


A Last Minute Resolution

by FunnyLittleOwl



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Airplanes, All the romcom tropes this holiday season deserves, Ben is dying from a severe case of blue balls, Blizzards & Snowstorms, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Impromptu wedding date, Late Night Conversations, Meeting the Family, Modern AU, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss, Rey and Ben meet at a flight to NYC during the New Years, Romantic Comedy, Slow Burn, Swearing, Waffle House
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-09-29 18:32:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17208704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FunnyLittleOwl/pseuds/FunnyLittleOwl
Summary: That wasn’t a Christmas tree she had just bumped into. It was a real person. Who wore shoes. The same shoes that were hopelessly wet and stained right now, because of her.A person who was furious, and apparently was also speaking to her.“Watch it, lady,” the man said, frantically wiping the side of his pants and refusing to face her. “I got a long flight ahead of me, and only one pair of shoes.”Shit. He was handsome.“I don’t know what your problem is, but I’m guessing it’s hard to pronounce.”And also a jerk.(In which Rey is an idealistic but unemployed journalist, Ben is a cynic divorce lawyer and a blizzard is threatening to destroy their New Year's plans. Will they ever endure an 8 hour flight sitting side by side?)





	1. A New Start to Old Habits

**Author's Note:**

> [](https://ibb.co/6rRShkg)   
> 

 

It seemed Rey had severely underestimated the power of tactile gloves. Her hand was freezing as she made her way through London’s Heathrow crowded gates, searching for any departure screens indicating her flight’s status.

“Don’t worry, peanut,” Finn’s reassuring voice was a small thing in her ear - the New Year’s ruckus deafening any resemblance to sanity she might summon - as she ran for her life. Her best friend and foster brother continued, blissfully oblivious to her current situation, “Hey, you know we won’t start without you.”

She was _late_. And not fashionably so.

“I think I might lose my flight,” Rey stated, more to herself than anything.

“Rey, you’ll be fine, just don’t freak—”

She dropped her phone suddenly and Finn was silent. _There it was._ _The 2849 flight to New York’s JFK._

On top of the gate’s number lied the announcement that would change her life forever: the ‘Last Call’ massive red letters at the screen horrifically merged into the final warning of a ‘Gate Closed’ in the blink of an eye, leaving her paralyzed.

“Houston, I have a problem,” Rey whispered, aghast. She brought the phone back to her ear and found Finn still rambling.

“Listen, Finn, I gotta go talk to the air company,” she interrupted him, turning back on her heels and marching to the British Airways’ counter. “I’ll be fine. Text you when I land.”

She wasn’t sure she would be fine. It was New Year’s eve, London was buried under heavy snow and her brother Finn was getting married at the other side of the Atlantic in just over 20 hours.

Rey fidgeted on the queue, dreading what might have come to pass with her suitcase - that she checked in on a rush - which carried her maid of honor’s dress and all of her winter coats. _They wouldn’t leave it on the plane if I didn’t board, right? They have logistical procedures for this sort of stuff, it must happen all the time. Right?_

A bored air attendant greeted her from behind his diminutive desk.

“Name,” he intoned with practiced deadness.

“Rey Johnson,” she answered, already searching for her passport in her bag. He took it, scanned her face superficially and started typing on his keyboard.

“Do you want to reschedule your fight? Most people in your position are doing that, what with the blizzard and all.”

“I need to get to New York as soon as possible. My brother is getting married tomorrow.”

He nodded, uninterested.

“We can put you on the next flight, but it’s gonna cost you.”

“That’s fine. When does it leave?”

“You don’t want to know how much?” the man with the ‘Ryan’ nametag raised his eyebrow.

“Honestly, at this point I don’t even care,” Rey admitted. “You can squeeze me in.”

Ryan started typing again. The queue was growing long.

Finally, he looked up again, printing her air ticket and circling her new gate with a pen. “Departure starts in 40 minutes.”

_Seriously?!_

 

* * *

 

 

Rey was glad she was able to at least grab a latte on her way to her new flight. She hadn’t eaten anything the whole day, anxious about packing her suitcase and making sure Finn and Rose’s present was properly guarded against bumps and turns.

She was so proud of her foster brother. Finn had met Rose three years ago when he was serving Her Royal Majesty’s army as a novice pilot, and the youngest of the Tico sisters was an engineer longing for better days in her field. Together, they had left service, fed up with such senseless violence and disillusioned with the military, and made a life together in Manhattan, where they had the support of her family.

Rey only hoped that she, herself, would also find a new beginning in the States.

For starters, she was currently unemployed. Surely, she would use term ‘freelance journalist’ in her immigration form and to whomever asked in the upcoming gala event, but she wouldn’t be that innocent to believe she would start the new year with a brand new job in New York City.

She had an interview for a chief editor position at an independent magazine on the 4th of January, one of the reasons she desperately needed to get on that plane today. Rey had polished and embellished her resume before leaving to the airport, full knowing that her one big hit to show for herself had been the one article that blew up shortly after Prince Harry’s wedding.

But if that had caught the American’s board attention and could potentially land her a job… then she would gladly talk about wedding cake’s flavours and how they secretly related to the groom and bride’s personalities for her entire career.

Her phone beeped, a nice distraction from all the work-related anxieties. It wouldn’t hurt to check now, would it? 

_poe_

> hey rey

> finn told me you were in pickle with your nyc flight

> is everything alright?

_rey_

im already reassigned to a new flight <

shouldn’t change things much, it leaves in about 20 min <

how’s everyone hanging in there? <

im really sorry i couldnt be with you sooner <

i know nerves are on fire with last minute preps <

_poe_

> don’t worry, your best man’s got it all covered

> well, there was one Dress Emergency today... beebee nearly slobbered all over the bride’s cocktail dress… but it’s all ok now

> we just want you to get here safe, sunshine

> and don’t go worrying yourself sick for nothing

> if i know you well, thats exactly what you’re doing right now

> finn knows that you couldn’t get an earlier flight because of your boss :(

_rey_

oh you mean my EX boss <

the one who fired me on christmas eve <

claiming the magazine was on a huge new year employee cut <

AFTER making me deliver a full report on christmas wreaths <

and took all the credit when it showed up on a buzzfeed test <

_poe_

> omg rey you’re still reeling from that aren’t you

> i mean, i wouldn’t blame you

> but look on the bright side

> you’re gonna be stuck in an airplane for 8 hours without wifi and when you get here your little brother is getting married

> and it’s gonna be an entirely new year

> just focus on that and try to relax a little, okay?

> rose wants a full analysis on her wedding cake on your maid of honor speech, btw

> she thinks you’re like a tarot reader or smth

> soooo, just have a safe flight and text me when you arrive

_rey_

oh poe bear :(( <

you really are the best Best Man, arent you? <

okay i’ll try to take it easy and not freak out on the plane <

what could happen anyway <

i’ll be with all of you before you even notice <

and till i see you at the wedding <

happy new year!! <

_poe_

> happy new year sunshine

> beebee is here sending his love

> see ya soon

 

Rey smiled as turned her plane on airplane mode. Poe was Finn’s best friend from his first ever tour who ended up following his friend’s footsteps and leaving service a year later. He was a charmer and the most charismatic man she knew. Rey had been almost certain the two of them would end up together before Rose arrived in the picture.

Unsurprisingly, Rey and Poe had gotten on together like butter and popcorn and had become good drinking pals as well. They were both Finn’s best man and maid of honor and had chaotically Skyped each other for the past months about ceremony preparations, theme colors, playlists and surprises. Rey hoped everything had turned out just the way they envisioned in those crazy calls.

Oh, she dared hope.

God knew Finn deserved only the very best. But for the first time ever, Rey felt optimist about their performance tomorrow, even if all plans failed.

After all, they couldn’t go wrong if it came from a place of love.

It was four hours till midnight, fifteen till her flight and Rey found that she could finally exhale.

 _Everything will be alright_ , she repeated as a mantra.

She’d be with her family soon and nothing, absolutely nothing would get in her way anymore. The New Year was proving itself to be quite promising, in any case.

And even if she didn’t pass the job interview, Rey knew she’d be fine. At least in most departments of her life, the more urgent ones.

It was just a tiny, minuscule part of her that saddened at the fact it would be the first time in years she wouldn’t have someone special hold her when the clock turned to zero.

Her last relationship had ended up with enough yelling and shed tears to last a lifetime. On one side, there was Rey ready to move on to something more serious, and on the other, there was her ex-boyfriend idiotically blaming her 'life on the system' for making her stick to the first person who gave her any resemblance of affection and think that was true love.

He called her silly and immature.

It hurt so much Rey threw him out of the house on the spot. Yes, she wanted marriage - dreamed about it even - the special event in her life where someone would commit to her, _choose_ to be with her forever and then she would never have to be alone anymore.

Marriage also required that two people would exchange vows that could not easily be broken. That was the best part, in Rey’s opinion. Then it wouldn’t matter if they left, she knew her partner would _always_ come back. Because they loved her. Was that too much to ask, really? Too immature?

Rey didn’t think so. She refused.

So even if she couldn’t have it yet (hasn’t found the right _person_ yet), then... she would write about it.

Wedding cakes, wedding miracles, wedding traditions.

She vowed she would make other people happy with her whimsical musings - and then, hopefully, restore at least a few individuals’ belief in the transformative power of love.

Rey was thinking all of this so loudly she didn’t pay attention to where she was going.

She bumped into an overgrown Christmas tree and the lid of her latte fell off, dropping its scorching contents on someone’s shoes.

Wait.

That wasn’t a Christmas tree she had just bumped into. It was a real person. Who wore shoes. The same shoes that were hopelessly wet and stained right now, because of her.

A person who was _furious_ , and apparently was also speaking to her.

“Watch it, lady,” the man said, frantically wiping the side of his pants and refusing to face her. “I got a long flight ahead of me, and only one pair of shoes.”

 _American._ Shit.

“I’m so sorry, sir!” Rey shouted, suddenly finding herself trying to dry off his pants as well. “I didn’t see you, I’m terribly sorry. Wait, I can help you!”

The man turned around, frowning at the strange woman who was grabbing at his pants.

Realizing her mistake, Rey let go immediately.

He stared at her with dark, livid eyes.

Shit. He was handsome.

“I don’t know what your problem is, but I’m guessing it’s hard to pronounce.”

And also a jerk.

“Excuse me?” Rey stuttered.

But the guy had already turned away.

Oh, how Rey wanted to tell that asshole a thing or two about manners, but he walked too fast and was gone in an instant. In his stead, Rey was left to gather the remains of her latte from the floor, sadly undrinkable now.

She _said_ she was sorry. If he wasn’t planning to be that much of a douchebag, Rey would’ve tried to make it up to him somehow, like any civilized person.

But he was the one who decided for both of them, bolting right away.

Rey shook her head and kept moving swiftly toward her gate, since it was already open and there was an enormous queue of distressed flyers ready to get on board.

She checked her seat. _9C, brilliant._ They got her to be near the front.

Rey loved to be the first one out of the plane and into customs, dreading the hour-long wait when she got stuck between two old people with no care in the world and ended up on the last bus to the airport, usually losing her connecting flight in result.

Rey was used to travelling a lot during her time as international correspondent in Florida. That was a while back, just after uni. Whenever the magazine saw fit for her to investigate and uncover the facts, they would send her off with only a backpack and her laptop, usually only with a 6-hour notice, an Economy middle seat and an Airbnb couch to crash at night to her name.

It was just for a semester, she was definitely being taken advantage of, her back had surely seen better days, but it was the best time of Rey’s life.

It was because of that frantic routine that Rey discovered her unconditional love of flying and her favorite place in the world to write. The silence of a midnight flight, the lack of mindless distractions, the countless stories she’d stumble upon and the most unlikely people she would never have met otherwise — the wonder was addictive to her as both a human person and an aspiring storyteller.

She smiled, a bit nostalgic at her choice of words. Finn always found it funny when she said that - that they were both human people. ‘It’s redundant,’ he’d interject, and she would point a finger and say ‘It’s certainly not.’

Well, people like the latte guy proved that it was possible to be a human without being a person.

How was he wearing only a sweater on this weather, anyway? He must be like… an Ice Prince. Or something.

Rey showed her ticket and passport to the smiling attendant and was quickly ushered into the airport tunnel, where it was back to freezing cold. The snow was still relentless outside and she only hoped that New York wouldn’t be the same, especially upon their arrival.

Despite of all her experience, Rey was still terrified of flying under a heavy blizzard. Only once in her life had the pilot announced they had to abort their landing in Detroit and would have to re-take off to DC instead.

It was enough to traumatize her for good.

But Rey would face her worst fear for her brother any day, so onwards she went - tightening her coat around her body - through the tunnel and into the aircraft, carefully avoiding looking outside where the London sky was awfully dark and gloomy.

Tomorrow would be another day and another year, and Rey was nothing but ready for a total reset, filled with optimism, positivity and glasses half full.

“Good evening,” she wished to the flight attendant, practicing self-care.

9C was an aisle seat, and Rey was okay with that. She preferred windows during long scenic flights, as they inspired her to write, but when it was necessary to fly throughout the evening and into the early hours, there wouldn’t be much to look at, either way.

She’d be closer to the restroom, that being a major perk.

She’d also have to stand everytime one of her row buddies had to use the restroom for the next eight hours.

Oh, well… she doubted she’d be able to sleep in any form.

But it was as Rey #1 policy with airplane seats reminded her in times of need: ‘make friends, _not_ war.’

She was sure it’d be fine. What were the odds of her having a completely unsalvageable, lousy, no-good neighbor in the first place?

Rey arrived at 9C.

Her seat had been taken.

There was sitting an oblivious, deep in concentration intruder, paying attention to no less than three electronic devices on top of the contractile table, all of them beeping nonstop while he attempted to catch up with them all.

The man was also Latte Guy.

The Ice Prince.

That... guy _._

Rey was truly, thoroughly, royally fucked six ways to New Year’s.

 


	2. What the new year brings (depends a lot on what you bring to the new year)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so the flight begins.

Rey never considered herself a very competitive person.

That was until she caught herself in an intense staring contest with the poorly-disguised giant who dared to seat on the wrong seat in this transatlantic trip that defied time itself.

 _Her_ seat.

She hated it when people did that on airplanes or movie theaters. _If you’ve been assigned a seat, then bloody sit on it. You might not like it, fine, but that’s life._

_And... if you had a little common sense, you’d wait until the doors were closed and then figure out if somewhere else was empty and move your arse there. But only THEN._

Because chances are, if you didn’t do that, you’d end sitting on someone’s seat and causing unnecessary ruckus.

Like this fucking guy.

It took a while for the black-haired to realize what was going on, but once he got sight of Rey and took a millisecond to recognize her, his expression closed off like an affronted flower.

They stared at each other, frowning intensely in uncomfortable silence. What was the protocol for situations like this?

A queue was forming behind Rey. Oh, that wasn’t good news.

“Excuse me,” Rey spoke formally, trying to keep the high ground, “but it appears that you are sitting on the wrong seat, sir.”

“This is my seat,” he replied, defensive.

She rolled her eyes. “No. Look, my ticket says…”

“9C,” he completed. “I’ve checked in online 36 hours ago and chose this specific seat myself. Here is _my_ ticket to prove it, not that I owe you anything.”

The man presented his torn air ticket, raised it with a flourish and shoved it right at Rey’s face.

 _Alright, that’s also 9C_ , Rey thought with confusion. It must be some kind of cosmic joke.

“There must be a logical explanation for this,” Rey tried to reassure the audience that grew bigger and bigger behind her, at least a dozen highly exasperated passengers.

“Yes, there is, lady,” he grimaced. “You like causing trouble — the state of my clothes can tell them the whole story. I’m already here, so it’s not my problem. Go sit somewhere else, the plane’s huge.”

“Listen—” Rey searched for the passenger’s name on the paper, “Mr. Solo. I’m trying my absolute hardest to see things from your perspective, but I just can’t get my head that far up my arse. This is very much your problem too, from where I’m concerned. The plane appears to be overbooked, as we’ve been assigned the same seat. I can’t just ‘go’ somewhere else. It’s my right to stay here until this mess is resolved by the company.”

He stood up, angry. Rey forgot how much he could loom over the average person by a whole wide foot. “Look at the commotion you’re causing - now _no one_ can sit down, are you satisfied? We’ll be waiting here until the New Year if it’s up to you, and I’m sure we all have better things to do. I’ll just call a flight attendant to make you see I’m right and get this over with.”

Rey didn’t know what possessed her, but her blood was simmering with rage. She felt it rushing to her face as she pointed a finger at him, “You know, everyone’s entitled to act stupid once in awhile, but you really abuse the privilege.”

His glare was murderous, but his voice was smooth. Dangerous.

“Well, do yourself a favor and ignore anyone who tells you to be yourself. Bad idea in your case.”

Rey was about to return with a proper dose of yelling when, suddenly, a worried flight attendant emerged and got herself between them.

“Excuse me, but the two of you are disrupting the flux of passengers and causing a scene by shouting. We have already received complaints from three passengers and a child has started crying on the third row.”

“Our tickets are displaying the same number! What on Earth are we supposed to do?” Rey gave the attendant both papers, hers and his Royal Highness’.

The attendant verified the tickets. Her eyes widened almost comically and then she left immediately to contact the rest of the crew.

Thankfully, a British Airways representative had already been summoned from the airport and was getting onboard to see what all the fuss was about, walkie-talkie in hand and all. _This is escalating quickly._

“Ms. Johnson, Mr. Solo,” he addressed the two of them. It was bloody _Ryan_ again, the same guy from before who had switched her flight to this one. Apparently, he fucked something up. “We are very sorry for all the inconvenience. It would appear that the company has relocated Ms. Johnson to a non-vacant seat. It is solely our mistake. If either of you would like to leave the flight, you’ll get a full reimburse and a bonus. That’s all we can offer at the moment, we are far behind schedule.”

Ben Solo wasn’t having any of it. “As a frequent client, I refuse to leave this flight. I need to get to New York by tomorrow and it won’t be an error in _your_ system that will make me disembark right now.”

Rey was also having none of it, to Solo’s dismay. “I _also_ refuse to leave. My brother is getting married tomorrow and there’s absolutely no way I’m leaving this plane until I get to JFK.”

“Please, I’ll pay any of you actual _gold_ if you either move out of the way or shut the hell up!” an old lady screamed from a few rows in their front. “My back is killing me and I need to sit down!”

Ryan, the British Airways flight employee, seemed to have made up his mind.

“I’ll need both you, Ms. Johnson, and you, Mr. Solo, to follow me to the back of the plane.”

  


* * *

 

 

They had been moved to the rear.

Yes, the very last row. After which there was only a questionable looking restroom, a shelf of supplies and the aircraft storage. They would fly to New York from the very back of the plane, or as Solo had put it, the 'rock bottom'.

Rey complained loudly and Solo had threatened to throw a fit, but ten minutes later their voices died down and the plane was ready to leave. So, they had no choice but to buckle up for the ride, quite literally: all the flight attendants were giving them side-eyes and ordering the two to fasten their seat belts.

Rey couldn’t be more aggravated. She was stuck between Solo and a sleeping old man for the next eight hours, without room to stretch her legs or arms and prevented from easily walking over to the restroom or around the aircraft.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to direct your attention to the television monitors,” the commander’s voice resounded from the speakers. “We will be showing our safety demonstration and would like the next few minutes of your complete attention.”

The plane was slowly veering through the taxiway and preparing for take-off. _This is it, then. This is really how my year’s gonna begin._

_Gotta make the best of it then, huh._

Rey pressed the power button on her little TV, trying to get her mind off Solo and dreading any new interaction with the man... but the screen insisted on remaining black.

She kept trying to turn it on in many different ways for the next couple minutes, but it was to no avail. The old man’s TV by the window was working just fine, currently showing the cheerful video presentation, even if he wasn’t awake to control it. Rey frowned.

She finally looked to the other side.

Solo’s TV was off as well. He had grabbed a book, put on his earphones and was closed off to the rest of world, but it didn’t appear to be by choice. Rey had seen him fumbling with the touch screen a few minutes prior, so the logical conclusion was that he had also given up.

There was a light rumble throughout the plane - displeased whispers and some ill-tempered comments - that indicated that some other passengers were going through the same trouble.

The aircraft’s entertainment system appeared to be malfunctioning.

_Oh, just my luck. What an amazing flight this one is setting up to be._

Rey thought it best to just go to sleep at this rate, like her elderly neighbor by the window.

After twenty minutes of tossing and turning, she realized that was but a beautiful thought, one too ideal for her mind to even contemplate. She wondered for the thousandth time why she hadn’t brought a book or even a magazine on board.

Even after leaving home on a rush, that’s something that one doesn’t just forget, like your documents and your head. Avoiding tedium was a vital step to survive long trips with your sanity intact - that was Travelling 101 - and Rey had just made a rookie mistake.

There was always her laptop, she could grab it and get a head start on her next article, but that was also a distant possibility with Solo blocking the aisle with his freakishly long legs.

Rey decided then it was about time she learned how to meditate.

_Rose keeps bugging me about it._

_How hard could it be, really._

She dozed off a couple times while trying, so she probably wasn’t doing it right, because she woke with a startle each time after having really bizarre thoughts about yoga pants. It just wasn’t doing it for her.

Counting sheep was just as ineffective.

It was a blessing when, she wasn’t sure how much later - but it definitely wasn’t yet in the next year yet -, the cabin announced that dinner would be served shortly.

“Chicken or pasta,” the flight attendants walked around repeating in English and French. Only the two options. Rey would make sure to get the one that looked the least shady.

She shuddered as she remembered past experiences with airplane food. Perhaps only one option was truly viable today.

“I’d like a glass of wine, please,” Rey said, and upon receiving a weird look from the server as he unscrewed the bottle, she added,“That will be all, thank you.”

Solo also gave her a funny look, but said nothing. He asked for pasta and two cups of coffee.

“ _Two_ cups? Why?” Rey asked astonished, when the attendant left. “Maybe ease up on the coffee intake. No, it won’t help you fall asleep and yes, it will increase dehydration.”

Solo stared at her like she was a particularly interesting bug that got caught on his boots. “One cup is for me. The other is for grandpa over there, in case he wakes up and decides he wants something.”

Rey turned to the sleeping man, ostensibly dead but for the occasional fit of cough, “Oh, that’s… thoughtful of you, actually.”

“Does that surprise you?” Solo quirked an eyebrow, opening his surprise package and beholding it with suspicion.

“It does,” Rey took a sip of her drink, “You’re not annoying me right now, for once. And I suppose he’ll appreciate it when he comes to, if anything his snore pattern seems to indicate he’s entering light sleep.”

“Well, coming from personal experience, alcohol will not make _you_ fall asleep any faster on this flight,” said Solo, lecturing, “And as flight partners go, it could be a lot worse. Unlike our friendly neighbor here, I’d say that you only annoy me when you’re breathing, which really is hardly your fault.”

“Only when I’m breathing?”

“Yes. It must be a terrible affliction,” he mumbled distractedly, taking a bite of his pasta and talking with his mouth full. “Just be careful and mind your glass - I don’t want wine stains to add to my collection. You’re awfully clumsy too, you know that?”

Rey had to admit it was a rather endearing sight.

Solo was an overgrown man crouching on a second class seat at the rear of an international flight, trying to eat from a minuscule tray with toy-sized plastic cutlery.

“Sorry, didn’t get that,” Rey said bemusedly, “I don’t speak bullshit.”

Expecting an acid comeback, Solo surprised her by letting out a small, genuine laugh. Suddenly, all that talk of insult seemed for Rey to be turning into high-spirited, witty banter.

Reciprocated humor. That was… refreshing to her.

Rey smiled, her gaze softening. Perhaps this stressed-out, workaholic man who saved old people coffee when they fell asleep wasn’t that bad a person after all. They were both having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day away from their families on New Year’s Eve.

And she _was_ stuck next to him for the next seven hours of her life.

A little civilized conversation wouldn’t hurt anyone, would it?

Solo looked at her with wary eyes, but as she smiled, the corner of his lips relaxed, disarming him. It was almost like he was deciding whether or not he would keep putting up his rude, impersonal façade.

“I’m Rey,” she said, foolishly.

It took him a moment to catch up. Whatever it was, he seemed to have decided.

“Ben."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What shenanigans do you want to see our clueless power duo getting themselves into on this 8-hour flight into the New Year? I have a few ideas, but I'm DEFINITELY open to suggestions *villain laugh*
> 
> Your comments make me write a lot faster :)  
> Thank you so much for reading!


	3. Happy New Year, Beautiful Stranger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey had given up all hope, until she heard someone pacing back and forth outside the airplane loo.
> 
> “Rey?” a muffled voice said.
> 
> It was Ben. It could only be Ben.
> 
> “It’s me,” she answered desperately. Rey all but started pounding the door and shaking the lever violently, trying to force it open. “I’m stuck.”

 

The lights had been turned off for a while now. Only the emergency red lights timidly lit up the side of Ben’s face on their path across the aisle, making their late night conversation a bit more intense.

Rey ended up having that second cup of coffee, as the old man sitting by the window refused to wake up. She also finished Ben’s plate of ‘pasta’ or whatever that was. She didn’t understand how a man so big could be such a picky eater.

“So,” said Ben conversationalist, “what’s the deal with you?”

“My what?”

“Your deal,” he explained patiently, “Why you’re here stuck on this plane with only two hours left on the year, what you do for a living, who hurt you, that sort of stuff.”

Rey found fascinating how much one was willing to admit while flying forty thousand feet in the air, so close to strangers you would never meet again. It was intimate and freeing without compromise, flying. They were all passengers - just passing by.

“It’s a long story,” Rey said with a sigh, staring at her tray table at full upright position.

“Well, I’ve got all night.”

It also got to that time on a flight in which you were reminded of why you brought a jacket on board. Rey shivered and hugged herself as discreetly as she could. Even her winter coat wasn’t enough to keep her warm, not when the temperature outside was -51°C.

“Well, I made sure to let everyone know the gist of it when we were yelling at each other earlier,” she rolled her eyes, “My brother is getting married tomorrow. I was stuck at work and sorting out some things, so I couldn’t fly out before. Then I got fired and missed my flight and ended up here, sitting next to you on merry New Year’s Eve.”

“Who gets married on January 1st?”

“That’s all you got from it, really?”

Ben smirked. “What, did you expect me to convalesce in your misery? I’m not sure if you noticed, but we’re all struggling here, miss.”

Rey bumped his arm on the armrest beside her. “So, what’s so important that got _you_ stuck here on New Year’s, hotshot?”

“Family stuff.”

“Mysterious.”

“Not really," he sighed, “I haven’t seen them in a while, that’s all. There’s some… urgent business I need to attend and they need me there.”

“Okay,” Rey acquiesced, recognizing a sore spot when she saw one. “So you live in London?”

“I live in New York.”

“And your family?”

“They also live in New York,” Ben frowned.

 _A very sore spot, indeed._ Rey decided to change the subject.

“I’m a journalist,” she said. “Well, at least I was, before I got fired. I actually have an interview lined up next week and if it goes well, I’m moving to the States permanently. It’d be nice to stay closer to my brother and his in-laws.”

“You and your brother close, huh?”

“Yeah, we needed to be,” Rey smiled, “We were on the system together. Finn is my foster brother, you see. I’m happy he found a family for himself.”

Ben nodded, kinda solemn. Rey knew that bringing up her childhood at a British orphanage was an uncomfortable subject to some people.

But all he said was, “I’m a lawyer.”

“Really? I assumed you were a big deal, what with your sparkly personality and expensive shoes. What kind of lawyer?"

“A divorce lawyer.”

Rey seemed to choke on air. That was unexpected.

“What?” Ben said, raising his chin in silent outrage. “You one of those who still believe in happily ever after? It’s a line of work like any other. And you can bet it’s a thriving one right now.”

“As a matter of fact, no, I don’t believe in ‘happily ever evers’,’’ she made the quote marks with her fingers, “But I do believe that some people, once they find each other, are just _meant_ to be together. That doesn’t mean it’s not hard work, but you know it’s gonna be worth it in the end, hence why you should stick together.”

“Of course,” he sneered, “You’re a hopeless romantic.”

“Am not.”

“You so are.”

Rey huffed. They ended up being silent for a while.

“I attended twenty seven weddings this year,” Rey admitted softly. “I kept saying they were references for my article, but I guess I just enjoyed the atmosphere at that sort of event. Whenever I felt hopeless or just disillusioned with the world, I’d check social media for the next open wedding in town. There’s just… _something_ about two people committing to each other, for better or for worse, in the face of so much horror we see everyday on the news.”

Ben said nothing, but she knew he was listening intently to her every word.

“Some people feel like marriage is the equivalent of giving up. Perhaps you’re even one of those people. But I think it’s the biggest act of bravery there is.”

Someone on row 15th had a sneeze attack, and the life on air threatened to stir a bit. It didn’t last. Ben cleaned his throat.

“You know, ever since I was kid, I had this gift,” his voice was so low, Rey had to angle closer to be able to hear him. Their arms were sneakily closing in together. “My mom is a well-associated public figure, so I attended my fair share of social events growing up. I’d have this things where I would attend the wedding ceremony, and depending on how the couple said their vows, I’d know exactly for how long their marriage would last. I was hardly ever wrong. My dad… he got angry with me one day, said I talked like a vulture.”

Ben’s gaze seemed to be far away into the past.

“So he riled me up, told me ‘then why don’t you become a lawyer, if you already sound so much like that leeching bunch?’ I ended up going to to Law School just to spite him. He never really forgave me for it.”

“I’m sorry.”

He shook his head. “Don’t be. It was the best decision I ever made. Now I travel everywhere, attend conferences all around the world, get to study with the top minds in my field…”

“It sounds lonely,” Rey contemplated.

Ben didn’t say anything for a moment, then admitted in a whisper, “It is a bit.”

“I have a magic trick like yours, you know,” Rey said, trying to lighten him up. “Back in London, following Prince Harry’s engagement, the British papers were killing for any sort of wedding-related content for months. Thankfully, I knew it was the perfect moment for me to shine.”

“What’s your gift?” Ben asked, suddenly interested.

“I try out wedding cake flavours and get magical insight into thee bride and groom’s relationship.”

“Excuse me?” he raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“For instance, get the thirteenth wedding I’ve been to back in July. I had never met the couple before or any of their families, mind you. But one taste of their strawberry cake and suddenly I got the whole picture. They were free spirits, the bride and groom, probably met while hitchhiking in the Caribbean. You see, a bride with a fruit-flavored cake such as strawberry just wants to have fun. Their weddings usually have lots of dancing and laughter, with a cheerful decor pulling it all together. I decided to go fact-checking my discoveries with one of the bridesmaids about their honeymoon plans. Turns out she didn’t even realize I was a complete stranger.”

Ben honest to god laughed at her heartspun tale.

“Sure, forget a minute about the ever-growing threat of nuclear war, natural disasters, and white supremacy, let’s talk about _wedding cakes_. My parents had a lemon-flavored cake at their wedding. What do you figure it says about them?”

Rey let out a small gasp.

“Are they _divorced_?”

That made Ben laugh even harder.

Rey gave him a sheepish smile. “Lemons are bad omens at weddings.”

“You know, I misjudged you, Rey.”

She looked up at him in surprise. He sounded serious, like he was admitting to a secret close to his heart. Ben didn’t look like the sort of person who easily admitted he was wrong.

Perhaps that meant something.

Perhaps it was just too close to midnight, in those treacherous last moments where your heart made you believe the countdown to zero meant things would be different from now on.

He brushed his hand over hers. Rey’s breath got caught in her throat.

She desperately wanted this to mean something.

“You’re an okay person,” he said at last.

Rey’s eyes squinted, befuddled.

“A okay person.”

“Yeah,” he drawled out, “quite alright for a clumsy, latte-thrower, ruiner of shoes. Not… what I expected you to be.”

“Wow, you really were serious when you said you were bad at this,” Rey joked, granting him another friendly bump. “I thought you were just an arsehole. But you just really, _really_ suck at making conversation. You know, back when we were fighting, I was hoping for a battle of wits... but now I see it would be wrong to attack someone who’s totally unarmed.”

“Ha,” Ben puffed, “in your dreams. I’ll have you know I am unbeatable on court.”

“I bet you are. It must be kind of hilarious watching you try to fit your entire vocabulary into one sentence.”

Ben shook his head again, bemused.

Somewhere along their amicable banter, Rey and Ben fell asleep, lulled by the steady roar of the engines and the intimate atmosphere that drew softly around them.

Rey dreamed of a heady laugh and impossibly soft black curls.

She woke up a few hours later feeling remarkably warm.

She had fallen asleep on Ben’s shoulder, it seemed. His sweater cushioned her head and she might have drooled on it a little bit. Rey raised her sleeve to clean it off, but something blocked her way.

Ben had covered her with her nondescript flannel that was given to them at the beginning of the flight. Her chest tightened at the act and she subconsciously pulled even closer to him, who was still sound asleep.

Rey had an impossible thought. Maybe Ben wasn’t really the Ice Prince, after all.

Maybe he was really just the perfect Human Furnace, adjusting himself flawlessly just where Rey needed him to be.

But something had to spoil the mood, and for once, it wasn’t Ben’s unfiltered mouth.

Rey blinked herself awake and realized she quite desperately needed to pee.

_This bloody bladder. Always when I’m most comfortable and least willing to move._

She disengaged herself reluctantly from the perfect cocoon they had carved themselves into. Checking her cell phone, she learned it was 11:32 PM. _Only another half-hour till midnight._

_Guess I got time to make a run to the loo for the last time in the year._

Okay, but how was she going to do this. She needed to get past Ben and his freakishly long legs. Rey figured the first step was to remove her seat belts.

Now what.

_I’ll have to go across._

She could be stealthy. She did yoga. Once.

Rey carefully stood up on her seat and shrunk her belly as best as she could. The whole plane was silent. She put her hands on his seat, dribbled his left leg and _pulled._

Rey was glad Ben wasn’t awake, because her entire backside was now 4 inches away from the general direction of his face. She was stuck between his legs and feeling very awkward.

Gingerly, she tried to jump his other leg to get out quicker, but she tripped and ended up falling partially on his lap. Rey grimaced and checked his breathing for any disturbances, but found he was a tremendously heavy sleeper.

_Thank every god who might be listening._

Rey didn’t rely on her luck for long. She stood up anxiously and left, feeling as though she had run the Saint Sylvester road race.

Thankfully, the airplane’s loo was right behind their seat, what with it being the last row and all. Rey usually hated sitting so close to the restroom, but today, she loved it.

She closed the door, locked it, and went about her business, relieving herself.

_Awesome._

_Last pee of 2018._

Rey gingerly cleaned up and washed her hands, careful not to touch anything beyond necessary. She watched the woman in the mirror staring back at her.

She looked _awful._ Her hair was pointing to every possible direction, sticking out due to the heavy wind she caught while running from her Uber to the airport. Her overall face looked like a deeply embarrassed tomato, if that color could even be called a blush at this point. She had very sensible skin and winter was a harsh time to her facial self care, so she just gave up.

But the worst part was her lipstick. When did it get so smudged? Was it when she drank her coffee, right when the airplane bumped up a little bit? Or even earlier, when she was applying it carelessly at the check-in queue? Either way, that was terrible news.

What must Ben think of her?

For all appearances, it looked like she had just snogged someone thoroughly before boarding the plane, or that she was trying out an appalling cosplay of the Joker.

Rey took a piece of paper and attempted to remove the sad pinkish remains, but it just added to her blush palette. _Great, I made it worse._

She decided it was time to bring out the big guns.

Her make-up remover was in the first pocket of her bag, along with cotton balls and light skin foundation. She painted herself a new face, one that wasn’t a total mess.

When she was satisfied, she smiled to herself on the mirror and checked the time. _11:43 PM. Seventeen minutes to midnight._

She tried to open the restroom door.

It wouldn’t budge.

She tried again.

Closed.

_Oh, no. Not this again._

When Rey was 18 and a terrified first flyer, she had once severely underestimated the power of that dreaded bathroom lock. She was stuck in the airplane’s cubicle for about ten minutes before a flight attendant heard the yelling and the kicking and came to the rescue.

It wasn’t long before it became her biggest fear, bigger even than having to man the emergency door by herself during a catastrophe, with everyone counting on her for survival.

Locked inside a bathroom.

On the countdown to midnight.

Just her luck.

Rey breathed deeply and tried to think clearly. Right. It was just a small lever, one she could manipulate if she only remembered her spatial geometry classes.

But she was terrible at mathematics.

She wondered how long it would be before anyone noticed she went missing. It was a huge plane, there were bound to be many loos. Ben was asleep and didn’t look like he would change that status anytime soon.

There were three hours left in the flight.

And Rey might have just had the newfound discovery that she was claustrophobic.

First, she tried knocking.

But there was no response.

Then, she tried calling out.

“Anyone there?”

Finally, she tried knocking _while_ calling out for help.

It seemed gentleness wasn’t the answer here.

She kicked a little, then harder.

Nothing.

Rey kicked with all her might.

_Where are these flight attendants?!_

She switched to punching the door instead.

_I will not. Spend. The new year. Inside. An airplane. Loo._

Rey touched her head to the cold door, panting. She was exhausted. At least, if all else failed, she could write an article about this. A buzzfeed quiz. A memoir. An epitaph.

_11:56 PM._

She was going to _die_ here.

She was never going to see Rose walk down the aisle, the mesmerized look on Finn’s face when he saw her. She was never going to give the maid of honor speech of her life.

Poe would be so disappointed on her. The man was a master pickpocket. This was probably a piece of cake to him. Ah, the _wedding_ cake… she would never have a slice of the Tico’s wedding cake. Whatever flavour shall it be, it will forever remain a secret to her. She would never be able to counsel them with their marriage fights.

Finally, she could hear some rustle outside the loo.

It sounded like someone was pacing back and forth. They stood right in front of the door.

“Rey?” a muffled voice said.

It was _Ben._ It could only be Ben.

“It’s me,” she answered desperately. Rey all but started pounding the door and shaking the lever violently, trying to force it open. “I’m stuck.”

But Ben was also trying to open it from the other side.

He managed it on the first try.

Rey wished she could rewind that scene forever in her mind. It was comedy _gold._

The bathroom door slid open just as Ben stumbled over the entrance.

He toppled over Rey and they both fell to the opposing wall, the door closing again behind them. His forehead bumped into Rey’s nose and their mouths connected awkwardly with the sheer force of the hit.

Now they were both locked inside.

His watch beeped furiously.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

“Happy new year to you too,” Rey cringed.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you believe I was planning to finish this by January 1st?
> 
> Hopefully this is still relevant, lol. I'll try to update again in the next few days, we're halfway there, you guys.
> 
> Kudos and comments make me very happy >3


	4. For last year's words belong to last year's language

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soon, their little bubble would burst.
> 
> Ben would walk out of her life and forget her in T-1 day and she would walk down the aisle of her brother’s wedding with the ghost of him haunting her mind for the entirety of the year.
> 
> Rey didn’t know what to do to keep him.

 

“Ladies and gentleman, the Captain has turned on the fasten seat belt sign. We are now crossing a zone of turbulence. Please return to your seats and keep your seat belts fastened. Thank you,” said a voice very far away. “And a happy new year.”

Rey and Ben never heard it. From inside the bathroom cubicle, Rey only realized there was something wrong because suddenly she couldn’t stand on her feet.

The little red light on the screen was turned on, telling them to return to their seats.

“What did you do?” Rey accused, pointing a finger to his chest. She was hopelessly sandwiched between the wall and Ben, with zero room to breathe. “We’re both stuck here now!”

Ben looked bewildered. “ _I_ didn’t do anything,” he said, accidentally hitting his head on the ceiling. “The door opened and I was pushed inside.”

“Who pushed you?”

“No one pushed me, Rey!” Ben started to lose his patience. “The _airplane_ did. We must be flying under turbulence right now.”

Rey opened her mouth to retort, but then it seemed like the plane was on _free fall_. She yelped, trying to hold on to anything for dear life, but her hands found nothing and she almost fell on the closed lid of the toilet.

Ben instinctively held her up by the waist to keep her standing, and Rey grabbed his shoulders. She looked up at him in silent thanks and found puzzled eyes staring back at her.

“How did you find me?” Rey inquired softly. He offered, so she held on.

“It was easy, really,” Ben shrugged off. “I woke up and you were gone, so I assumed you were off tormenting someone someplace else for vodka or anything. But then you never came back. You couldn’t have jumped off the plane, so eventually I started paying attention to the horrible noise coming from the back of the row. It sounded like someone was trying to kick down the bathroom door. I figured it could only be you.”

“It’s not the first time I get locked inside the loo,” Rey admitted guiltily, “This lever is jammed and I can’t force it open.”

“I could take a look at it but at the moment I am physically unable to turn around.”

Rey stopped a moment to contemplate the utter ridicule of their situation. She was intertwined with a man she had only just met, trying to escape a very small and _flying_ hygienic cabin. A man who not only had she ruined his shoes just a few hours prior, but who also fought with her for the 9C seat and then became her reluctant companion. A man who came for her when he realized she was missing.

This relationship appeared to be progressing dangerously quickly.

Ben was also taking note of this. He took a deep breath and attempted to put as much space between them as possible – which wasn’t much – but it was enough to damper Rey’s growing feelings and embarrass her an inordinate amount for her silly girl's reactions.

_He pities you. Why on earth would a man like him want anything to do with a girl like you. Silly and immature, just like your ex told you._

Rey swallowed hard.

She would end this dilemma and get them out of here as soon as possible. It was getting too dangerous. Not because of the turbulence roaring outside.

It was dangerous playing with her heart.

“I could guide you,” she offered timidly.

“How?” Ben raised his eyebrow, incredulous.

“Well, you can’t turn around, and I clearly can’t turn the lever myself or I would have already done it. But your hand can still reach it from your back, can it not?”

Ben all but contortioned himself so his left hand was behind his body and searching for the jammed lever. “Yeah, kinda.”

“I’ll be your eyes, then.”

Realizing what Rey meant, Ben nodded. “Tell me when I’m cold or hot.”

 _God, you’re both. It makes me so_ incredibly _angry._

But he meant his hands, so Rey answered, “You’re cold. A little more to your left — yes, now up a little — no, that was too much, a bit lower — yep, getting hotter, hotter, you’re really close to it right now, just apply some pressure, break it, whatever, I don’t care—”

But Ben was finding it hard to locate exactly which way he should force the doorknob. Rey was running anxious, so she put her hand over his, moving it more to her right.

That was an extremely bad idea. Possibly the worst idea Rey ever had.

She had one of her hands resting atop his on the small of his back, which made her plaster the rest of her body over his, making Ben groan audibly like he was in pain.

“Rey, stop, you’re—” he cried, using his free hand to avert their hips from touching any closer.

_Oh my god. Oh my god, he’s…_

Knock knock.

“Shit,” both of them exclaimed at the same time.

There was someone at the door.

If it was a flight attendant, they were doomed.

“Shit, shit, shit, they’re gonna think we’re—” Rey panicked, looking at Ben for any direction, “Joining the Miles High Club, yeah, I know. Stay calm,” he mouthed, retrieving his hand to shush her with his finger.

Then the door opened and they were thrown out on the floor.

It wasn’t a flight attendant, that much Rey could tell from the size of their rescuer.

“The lovely couple from my row, it is.”

It was the old guy who had been sleeping all flight by the window.

He looked a little green. Maybe he was nauseated.

“How wonderful, young love is. Didn’t break anything there, I hope. I really need to use the bathroom myself.”

He stepped over them and closed the door behind him.

And then it was over.

They stared at the bathroom door for a few countless seconds, completely shocked, then Rey recollected herself and disengaged from Ben’s chest where she had landed.

She looked around. There were still no flight attendants to be found.

 _Where are these people? The crew just simply_ vanished.

“We need to warn someone that door is broken,” Rey found her voice again. “Otherwise he won’t be able to get out.”

Ben agreed. She helped him get on his feet and they were off, roaming the aisles for one miserable member of the crew passing by.

They reached the middle of the plane, where the aircraft was divided in two. Behind the curtains, there was the entire tripulation of the flight, opening up a champagne.

“Happy new year!” they toasted to each other, oblivious of the two nosy passengers watching the scene with a very deep frown. “No, no, you go serve row 11, Susan, you lost!”

“Let’s just get out of here,” Ben said, angered. “What a remarkable lack of professionalism.” He grabbed Rey’s hand and pulled her back to the main aisle.

Rey usually didn’t like it when people took her by the hand, as she was used to being on her own since a very young age. Ben taking her hand… felt nice, though.

Some people who had witnessed their argument before departing now stared at their joined hands flabbergasted as they walked back to their seats. One particular woman holding a chihuahua’s cage just rolled her eyes at them.

Ben didn’t notice it, hellbent on rehearsing to himself the legal spiel he’d give their captain upon arrival, but Rey felt extremely self-conscious.

When they got to their row again, a surprise was waiting.

The small man was already sitting down by the window again.

Fast asleep.

Rey and Ben eyed each other, confused.

“Do you think he’s—”

“Magical?” Rey interrupted. “Probably.”

Ben nearly laughed, as he gave room for Rey to sit down in the middle, “Yeah, you’re likely right. Either that, or he’s also got a special gift, like you and me. But instead of a wedding seer, he’s a Houdini of bathrooms.”

Rey was silent for a minute.

Then, she started having a fit of uncontrollable giggles. The _sheer_ absurdity of all of this.

Soon enough, Ben softly joined her with a low, addictive chuckle and they were both laughing, completely losing their minds together at 00:18 AM, January 1st, 2019.

“Shhhh,” the mother at row 28 silenced them, “my boy’s trying to sleep.”

That only made them laugh harder, but desperately trying to be quiet and not disturb anyone. Ben ended up having to put a hand to Rey’s mouth, who was tearing up at this point.

“I don’t remember the last time I laughed like this,” Rey said, wiping her eye with her sleeve.

“Neither do I,” Ben replied, smiling faintly. “It’s been quite an eventful flight.”

“And to think that six hours ago, my biggest concern was being late to a different flight that wasn’t this one.”

“They’re probably not having _nearly_ as much fun,” he teased.

Rey smiled.

“Ben,” she called.

“What is it?”

“Thank you,” she said softly, “for getting me out of that bathroom.”

“Anytime.”

“I’m sorry for dropping my latte on your shoes. I really am.”

“Rey, it’s ok. I was a complete jerk to you afterwards.”

“You bet you were. I’m not a proctologist, but I know an arsehole when I see one.”

He smirked. “Still an asshole?”

“Well, not so much of an arsehole right now,” Rey conceded, and Ben was about to call victory, when she continued, “But there’s still time.”

They were silent for a few minutes, absorbing in their own ways the strange events of the last half hour. Rey had woken up on Ben’s shoulder, innocently tried to use the loo, got stuck inside it, got stuck inside it _with_ Ben… then there was the entire matter of his pants.

Rey wasn’t mistaken.

He had gotten hard. Was it a natural reaction because she was standing too close?  Or was it something else?

Could Ben be genuinely attracted to her? A lesser man would have jumped on her in that bathroom on the first opportunity, but Ben was extremely respectful about it. Perhaps that’s all he was. Respectful.

_Or just not interested._

It was hard to tell.

Either way, they were dropping off that airplane in two hours and would likely never cross paths again.

Rey had Finn’s wedding to attend. Her job interview on the 4th. Ben had… whatever it is he said he came to do. Family stuff. Their worlds appeared to be completely different.

After all, he was a lawyer. A New Yorker with a ‘well-associated public figure’ as a mother. And she was… well, unemployed.

A failure as a writer and as a sister and a girlfriend, with no parents and nowhere to drop dead in the world. That was Rey. Johnson wasn’t even her last name, she didn’t _have_ a last name.

Suddenly, she felt an urge to give this busy workaholic a piece of valuable advice.

“Hey, Ben.”

“Hm?” he hummed. He was almost dozing off again.

“You said you haven’t seen in your family in a while now. How long is a while?”

Ben closed his eyes forcefully, his expression closed off to her. “Do we need to talk about this right now?”

“I’m sorry, I understand this is probably a sensitive subject. I… I was just wondering," she bit her lip nervously. "Why you don’t talk to them. I mean, I know I would do anything for a chance to talk to my own parents. But _maybe_ , and you don’t have to answer me right now… maybe you should include in your new year resolutions… talking a little more to your mum from now on, you know. Or… even your dad. I don’t mean to intrude, please don’t think that. It’s just— you never know when they might be gone, is all.”

Ben was quiet, and his eyes, darkly somber.

“I don’t believe in new year resolutions,” he said, after some time.

“Of course you don’t,” Rey shook her head, understanding.

It was clear there was a lot of water under that bridge. And a lot he wasn’t willing to tell. Rey didn’t judge him.

The next hour was spent in silence. Rey asked for a cup of water to take her medicine, Ben brought up his tablet again and started typing away notes about his last case. The old man next to them woke up, asked for a glass of whisky, then fell asleep again.

Finally, the cabin lights were turned on again.

That meant they were getting close.

Ben put away his tablet again.

“Seven years,” he said to no one in particular. “I haven’t seen my mother in seven years.”

_Oh, Ben._

“That’s a lot of time.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, sighing. “Since I joined my boss’ firm in Manhattan. Too much time, it seems. There are many things I can never take back now.”

Rey rested her hand atop his. His warm, warm hands like a baker’s. Barely out of the oven. It grounded her and so did him.

“It’s okay. She’ll have you back. She’s your _mum_ , Ben.”

It probably dawned on him that they were about to land and he would have to face this for the first time in the better half of a decade.

Ben looked pensive for the next few minutes. He held Rey’s hand the whole time, absentmindedly starting to stroke her fingers with his thumb.

Rey’s heart ached. He didn’t even realize it.

Soon, their little bubble would burst.

Ben would walk out of her life and forget her in T-1 day and she would walk down the aisle of her brother’s wedding with the ghost of him haunting her mind for the entirety of the new year.

Rey didn’t know what to do to keep him.

She felt a nudge on her arm.

“Oh, good evening, sir,” it was Window Man. He was awake. “Can I help you?”

“When is the wedding?”

Rey frowned, thoroughly confused. “Uh… today?”

_Wait, but how would he know..._

“How modern! And flying together, you are?”

Rey’s eyes widened in shock.

“No, sir, perhaps you misunderstand,” Ben came to the rescue, aiming to explain things out to the googly-eyed man who might be hard of hearing. “You see, we just met. I’m a lawyer here in the States. A divorce lawyer. No wedding. None.”

“ _Divorced?_ Even more modern, I say.”

Rey didn’t know whether she should laugh or cry at the old man’s little antics. Was he toying with them?

“We’re not together,” Rey said in a small voice.

The old man adjusted his glasses closer to his face. It felt like he was seeing her, truly seeing her, for the very first time. He nodded once, biting his lip in sympathy.

“Sorry, I see future again. Like married couple, you fight.” The man said, then turned around, pasted his face on the window and began stargazing. “Oh, storm is coming.”

_What._

He was foreign, that much was clear. She couldn’t quite place his accent. He obviously didn’t mean what she thought he—

Ben retrieved his hand from under hers.

He cleared his throat and started fidgeting with his sweater. “Rey, there’s something I think you—”

“Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen,” the pilot’s voice busted from the speakers. “This is your captain speaking. Air traffic control has placed us in a holding pattern on the descent to JFK airport. New York is under a severe blizzard for the past few hours and we might have to relocate our landing location. I’ll back be with more information when ATC clears us for landing. Thank you.”

“What’s happening?” Rey asked, suddenly concerned.

“We’re on a holding pattern.” When Rey still looked lost, he continued, “It means the pilot will have to circle around a pattern until control in JFK gives him instructions to land. It must be hell down there, what with this blizzard. I’m not sure anyone’s landing in New York right now.”

“And how long will the plane have to circle?”

“I don’t know,” for the first time in eight hours, Ben’s voice sounded uncertain. “It might be ten minutes. A half hour. Don’t worry, Rey, we’re not getting out of fuel.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Rey said. “You said it yourself. We might not _land_ in New York after this.”

Ben nodded, gravely. “Yes. But it can’t be too far. Perhaps I’m exaggerating and we’re only switching airports.”

“Perhaps.”

“Sorry folks”, the captain’s voice came to life again, “but there’s a ground stop on all flights headed south from here. For security reasons, we’ll be redirecting this flight to the airport Washington Dulles, in DC. We’ve been given an EFC time of 15 minutes after the hour, after which we’ll be flying straight to the Capital. Thank you for your understanding.”

“We’re going to _Washington_?” Rey all but yelled. “I don’t know any American geography, how far is that from New York? Oh my god, Finn is gonna kill me.”

“Rey, calm down,” Ben placated her, “You’re getting to that wedding, I _swear._ DC is only one hour away by plane.”

“And by car?”

“That won’t be necessary. The airways team will be waiting for us when we land to direct us to a connecting flight to New York.”

“But what if all the airports are closed till late?” Rey wasn’t stupid. If New York was anything like London under blizzard chaos, they wouldn’t be flying anywhere anytime soon. “How long is it to travel through the interstate?”

It felt like Ben was the one in denial now.

“About 200 miles,” he said, finally. “Four and a half hours usually, six driving with snow.”

“Oh my god,” Rey lowered her head to the table and stayed there. “Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“Let’s,” he swallowed.

The descent to Washington was unusually silent and tense. The atmosphere in the airplane was very hush-hush, with some people pretending everything was fine when it clearly wasn’t, other people whispering about conspiracy theories and the occasional child throwing a fit. Other people, like Rey and Ben, were lost in their own thoughts.

 _Finn will never forgive me if I’m late to his wedding,_ Rey thought panicked.

As they approached the city, a white landscape greeted them. It would be lovely given different circumstances, but as it was, it was but a reminder of the series of unfortunate events awaiting her if that airport wasn’t open again in reasonable time.

Rey forgot they would be playing with time on this trip. They went back to the past, when it was still 10:23 PM, December 31st, 2018.

Time zones were a thing Rey tried not to think too much about. They reminded her that time was a man made concept, accepted by global convention, didn’t mean a thing in outer space and that kind of thing was the reason why she took medication.  

They landed in Washington at 10:47 PM.

Rey had to wake up an oblivious to the world Window Man before they left the plane.

 

* * *

 

 

“What do you mean, no connecting flights available?” Ben shouted at a nervous British Airways attendant, “We need to get to New York right now!”

“I-I’m sorry, sir, b-but all flights to New York have been canceled until further notice—”

“Ben, stop it, it’s not her fault!” Rey grabbed him by the shoulder and tried to make him see reason. “We’re not flying to New York, it’s not a thing that’s gonna happen.”

“If you two are willing to wait, I could possibly squeeze you at the 4 PM flight tomorrow—”

“What time does the wedding begin?” he interrupted the girl to address Rey.

“1 PM,” Rey said, utterly miserable. “It’s an outdoor, scenic wedding at Central Park. Finn and Rose… they like the snow.”

“Not when it’s gonna make his sister late, I bet,” Ben ran his fingers through his hair. She could practically hear the cogs turning on his brain. “I have somewhere to be at 11 AM. It’s not possible, lady.”

“T-then I’m afraid there’s n-nothing I can do for you right now, sir,” the girl looked terrified.

There was only one solution left.

Rey smiled as delicately as she could, so not to scare the girl any further. It might have turned out looking like a grimace. She took the front on the counter, standing in front of Ben, put her hands on the table and demanded, “Tell us where the nearest car rental agency is.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be the last or second to last chapter in this story (it all depends on how much plot I manage to cover in one update)!
> 
> If you’re enjoying this, please consider leaving me a comment with your thoughts and predictions. I would love to hear some more feedback on this little monster who wasn’t supposed to be nearly as long as it’s getting. Also, tomorrow is my birthday, so even more incentive to do that haha 🎉
> 
> AND YES… WINDOW MAN IS YODA. (you’re welcome.)


	5. Away from the noise, there is a place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What’s your favorite color?”
> 
> Ben laughed. “I give you an opportunity to ask you anything you might want about me, and the first question to pop on your mind is which one is my favorite color?”
> 
> “Well, just answer it if you think it’s so silly.”
> 
> “Black,” he said. “I like black.”

 

 _“Rey, what do you mean by ‘the plane went someplace else’”?_ Poe’s voice was deceptively calm on the voice. _“I’m waiting for you at arrivals. It’s like a madhouse in here_ _— hey, watch it, dude, that’s Gabbana.”_

Rey was pacing back and forth outside the store, her boots covered in snow. She bit her thumb when she was nervous, which meant her finger was covered in multiple teeth marks by now.

“It means exactly what I said. Because of the blizzard, we were instructed to land in DC. I’m getting a car to drive over to New York, I should be there in about 8 hours, mid-morning. Please, please don’t worry Finn. I’m fine, and I’ll be with you in no time.”

_“I don’t like this, peanut. You have an American license, but you haven’t driven here in years. Don’t you want me to go get you?”_

“Thanks, Poe, but you know there’s no time for you to come and drive us back. Besides, I’ve already got a driver. At least, someone who’s driving half with me the way in the car.”

_“And who’s that?”_

“I met him on the place,” Rey turned to look at Ben, who was inside the agency and searching the catalogues for the best tire brands to drive with snow. She decided to just let him do his thing, he seemed to feel really strongly about it. “He’s… a New Yorker.”

Also, he looked kinda adorable with his concentrated frown.

_“I’m liking this even less, Rey. How can you know you can trust this guy?”_

Ben caught her staring through the glass window. The right corner of his lip lifted in surprise. The gesture could become a smile, if he let it run its course. It mollified her a little. But then the clerk called him again, presenting him with their car keys. Ben motioned for her to follow him to the garage when she was done.

“She checks out, mom,” Rey reassured him, jokingly. “Also, he has business in New York in the morning and can’t miss it. He’s in a rush to get there just as I am.”

_“Oh, no. I know that tone. You have a crush on this guy, don’t you? Is he tall?”_

“Okay, listen, Poe, I really gotta go,” Rey blushed stupidly, even though Poe couldn’t see her through the phone. “I’m really sorry that you had to wait for me at JFK, but if you leave now, there’s still time to get back to Finn’s bachelor/New Year’s Eve party.”

 _“Yeah, about that,”_ Poe said distantly. _“I’m not going back to the party. It was… too loud.”_

“Too loud?” she repeated, a bit confused.

Poe let out a big sigh, like he was exhausted already. She could almost hear his hands going through his hair and messing it all up.

_“Fine, Rey, you win. Come home with Mr. Driver, have fun. Just text me when you get to Jersey, so I know when you’re arriving, alright? I need your help with the flower arrangements.”_

“You got it,” she said. “Thanks a lot, mate. Happy new year.”

Rey couldn't shake the feeling there was something wrong with him.

_“Happy new year, peanut. Be safe.”_

 

* * *

 

 

Fifteen minutes into the road, Ben was already yawning and cranky.

“Tell me why I’m driving again.”

“Because you slept 20 minutes more than me on the plane,” Rey answered, keeping her terribly heavy eyelids practiced on the rear mirror.

“Rey, you know we’re gonna have to switch if we wanna make it out of this alive,” he commented.

“Yes, I’m aware. But nothing’s keeping you from starting,” and that’s how she ended that argument.

Rey, for one, was glad they were out of the cold. It had snowed in Washington, but not nearly as much as the rest of the East Coast. That made the beginning of their journey easier.

There was a problem Rey hadn’t anticipated with their compact luxury sedan, though. An Audi 4 Quattro, Ben’s choice.

Their car’s heated front seats were very comfortable, but were making it _particularly_ hard to stay alert.

“Fine. But it’s your job as copilot to help me stay awake. Don’t you dare leave me alone here,” Ben warned.

“Hey, I wasn’t planning on sleeping,” Rey said, but an ill-timed yawn betrayed her. Ben shot her a look. “Well, thinking about it isn’t the same as doing,” she muttered.

They drove through a sign indicating they had entered the I-95. Red letters blinked like headlights above them, “BLIZZARD EXPECTED MON - WED. PLAN AHEAD.”

“This isn’t the most scenic route,” Ben said, almost like an apology, “but it’ll get us where we need the fastest. Now we just follow this interstate for 220 miles till we get to exit 14 from New Jersey to New York.”

“Oh god, we’re _definitely_ falling asleep then,” Rey despaired. “Where can we make stops for food and coffee?”

“Through Maryland or Delaware, depends on what’s open.”

“Don’t you find it weird the we went back a year in time?” she pondered. “We were in 2019 for a while, now we’re back to 2018”.

“Time is relative,” Ben took the bait, and started lecturing. “We didn’t go _back_ in time, we just got to an earlier time zone where the Earth’s rotation hasn’t gone full circle yet. Either way, I don’t pay it much mind. I actually find myself constantly doing the most menial things while the rest of the world is out celebrating.”

“Like what?”

“Well, last year, for instance, I was waiting in line at a Mcdonald's drive-through.”

Rey laughed, then stopped herself. “Wait, really?”

“Really. I was studying a client’s case - the usual, partner cheated and wife found about it on Facebook - got hungry, decided to stop for a snack. When I noticed fireworks, I was already eating fries at the parking lot and reviewing my court stance.”

“Wow,” Rey whistled, “that’s rough.”

“Yeah, well,” Ben tried to sound serene about it, but the tip of his ears went pink and blew his cover, “Remember when I asked for your opinion on my established lifestyle?” He didn’t wait for her to continue, “Me neither.”

“Geez, slow down. I wasn’t judging you, Ben. I spent last New Year’s Eve on the job as well. I had a… really demanding life as a journalist. I was following my first big lead, undercover as a tourist at the Jakku desert. The magazine wanted me to unravel the secrets of the Plutts’ cartel. Unfortunately, I came back with jack and got demoted to— you guessed it— fitness and _lifestyle_.”

Ben looked a bit guilty for assuming the worst about her comment. Perhaps it was just what he was used to. He tried to make it up to her with a thoughtful compliment, whistling like he was really impressed anyway.

“And you ended up writing an inspired article about wedding cakes, of all things,” Ben reminded her. “You must be a really talented writer, Rey. You should show me your stuff sometime, maybe I could learn something from you.”

“Thanks,” she whispered.

 _Sometime,_ he said. Rey instinctively smiled. _Yeah, that would be nice._

“So, what’s up with your job?” She evaded the subject. He probably just said that to be nice. “Divorce lawyer at a firm, tough associate. You must have your share of interesting stories as well.”

Ben’s hands suddenly tightened their grip on the wheel.

“You remember that, don’t you."

“Kinda hard to forget,” Rey winced. What she forgot was that it seemed to be a pretty sore subject to him.

“My senior associate was adamant on my complete devotion to the ‘Law’ ever since I graduated. He trained me, groomed me, taught me pretty much everything I know. I am very grateful for his guidance,” Ben said, almost like he was reciting lines from a script.

“But?”

“But what?”

“It feels like the apprentice has outgrown the master, quite clearly. Why don’t you leave him and create your own firm?”

“It’s… complicated.”

“Okay, fine. I won’t pry. But why _divorce_ , of all things?”

“Why _weddings_?” he rebutted.

They both laughed awkwardly.

A couple of minutes had passed by before Ben finally responded.

“It’s just something I know a lot about,” he said in a small voice.

Rey nodded, deciding to keep her intrusive thoughts to herself.

“Now, Rey, please do tell,” Ben started again after sometime, his expression a lot more composed. “How does one get married at Central Park in the middle of a blizzard?”

“They don’t,” she joked. “They get married inside a cottage, a _heated_ cottage, that they had to rent with sixteen months notice, that is also located in the outskirts of the park and a very popular wedding venue. _Then_ they’ll head outside to take pictures on the snow.”

“Near Belvedere Castle?”

“That’s the one,” Rey affirmed happily, “The photographers are gonna have a blast with all the white, the pictures are sure to be stunning.”

“Indeed,” Ben had to agree. Snow was a bitch, but beautiful nonetheless.

“And where’s your business at, Ben? Is it far from it?”

“No, not really. It’s in a building near Central Park South.”

Rey waited for him to elaborate any further, but he didn’t.

This Ben Solo sure was one mysterious fella.

Poe’s voice echoed in her head. _How can you know you can trust this guy?_

Somehow, Rey just knew she could. It was a gut feeling. Until today, her gut had never lead her astray and she only hoped the new year time travel wouldn’t jinx it.

They were in comfortable silent for a while.

Rey turned on the radio and searched for a station with ambient jazz music, just to keep the light and tranquil atmosphere between them.

After some time, Ben found himself humming to Sinatra.

“ _I'd tried so, not to give in_ ,” he sang, distractedly, “ _And I said to myself this affair it never will go so well…_ ”

Rey was pleasantly surprised to hear him singing under his breath. She joined him, delighted at his old school taste in music, “ _But why should I try to resist when baby I know so well…_ ”

They sang together the famous chorus, “ _That I've got you under my skin_.”

Rey giggled, and they kept up their duet, a lot louder now, Ben comically trying to lower his voice even deeper to match Sinatra’s charming rumbles.

The song was over eventually, giving place to an instrumental piece.  

Ben kept humming, but Rey’s thoughts were a thousand of miles away.

 _I’ve never met anyone quite like Ben Solo. But who_ is _he, really?_

The clock struck midnight, again. They were both aware of it, this time. And thankfully not entangled together in an airplane bathroom.

_Wait, that sounded wrong..._

“Happy new year, Rey,” Ben said, softly. “For all it’s worth, I’m glad I’m spending it with you.”

“For the second time,” she remarked, humorous. “We’ve known each other for longer than it seems. Two new year’s eves, really? I feel like I only met you yesterday.”

Ben chuckled, low and intoxicating. It only fueled her doubts.

“This might be the longest relationship I’ve ever had,” he joked.

“That’s funny,” Rey said, turning the conversation on a more serious note, “because I feel like I still don’t know you at all.”

“What do you wanna know?” Ben offered, biting his lower lip.

“That’s not how it works,” Rey censured, yearning for a more organic approach.

Ben sighed, finally taking her to heart.

“Rey,” he said her name in tone of admission, “You probably know me better than half of the people in my life by now.”

“I don’t know whether that says more about you or about me,” Rey whispered, still confused where they stood in this whole mess of a situation.

“Ask me any question,” Ben said, determined. “I promise I won’t evade.”

“What’s your favorite colour?”

Ben laughed. “I give you an opportunity to ask you anything you might want about me, and the first question to pop on your mind is which one is my favorite color?”

“Well, just answer it if you think it’s so silly.”

“Black,” he said. “I like black.”

“Ominous much?” Rey raised an eyebrow in jest.

He resumed, unfazed, “I find it fascinating how it’s the result of the absence or complete absorption of visible light. I also like how black ink is the most common color used for printing books and thus the easiest color to read.”

“You make a good case for the colour black,” Rey commended.

“It is my job after all,” he smirked. “Yours?”

“Green.”

He waited for an explanation, and she just answered, “I never gave it much thought like you did. I guess I just really like the colour.”

“Underwhelming much?” Ben repeated in the same mocking tone. “I was expecting a sad story about how an ex of yours gave you a green bracelet or something and it broke when he left.”

_Ouch._

“Wow, you honest to god can be an arsehole even during a sincere heart-to-heart. Nah, none of them left that much of an impression,” she waved off, internally offended. “Not like that, anyway.”

“Sorry,” Ben winced. “Default pattern, it’s hard shake it off. You know, it comes with the job developing a thick skin and I’ve been working to—”

“Please, keep talking. I only yawn when I’m super fascinated.”

“I didn’t mean to assume anything about your past relationships,” he touched her hand, tenderly. “I _am_ sorry, Rey, really. Anyone who doesn’t realize how amazing you are isn’t deserving of you in the slightest.”

_Damn it. Even when I want to dislike him._

He was clearly being frank with her. Always had been.

“No need to exaggerate.”

“I’m not.”

“Can I still ask you questions, then?” Rey gave him a sly smile.

“Of course,” he allowed. “Go on.”

“What was the first thing you noticed about me?”

“How clumsy you were.”

“ _Ben…”_

“Fine.”

They kept driving for a couple minutes. Ben was more careful now to think of his answers before he freely gave them, probably to avoid offending her.

“Your accent,” he said finally. “I liked your accent.”

“My accent? You were in London. Lots of people have that accent there.”

“Precisely, and still I found yours more pleasing than the ones I kept hearing on the streets.”

“It admires me how you were able to rationalize you liked my accent while telling me off so rudely.”

“It’s a talent, really,” he boasted, a first instinct, but his heart wasn’t really into it. “I gave you a terrible first impression, didn’t I?”

“Well, I wasn’t that far off. I dropped my coffee on you, then yelled at you in the plane. Just saying — I wouldn’t want to seat next to myself on that flight if I had the choice.”

“And here we are, hours later, besties.”

She laughed. “You know, I don’t know how I feel about that term.”

“Then we’ll find one that fits,” he resolved. “Hey, are you hungry?”

_Change the subject, yeah, do that._

“Always, why?”

“There’s a Waffle House over there.”

“A what?”

“Waffle House,” he elucidated. “The only place to go — besides Wal-Mart — after 11 PM in Arkadelphia, Arkansas and similar ends of the world. Like here.”

“You make it sound like it’s like the quintessential American experience.”

“You know, it probably is.”

“Let’s hit it, then.”

 

* * *

 

 

Ben ordered them the basics, just to replenish their poorly-treated stomachs after a transatlantic journey flying in Economy.

Rey noticed he remembered her order from before — a latte. The one she dropped on him yesterday. How things had changed since then. She smiled to herself.

He left her tray in front of her and sat on the booth opposite hers.

Rey looked around the place before she started eating. It was an… interesting choice of place. “I’m not sure if the people here look drunk, exhausted or high. Or all of them.”

Ben smiled. “Welcome to America.”

“Apart from this restaurant looking sketchy af, the food is actually pretty good,” Rey said, taking a bite of her eggs and bacon.

“Told ya,” he said, taking a sip of his black coffee, one sugar.

“How long do we have until New York?” Rey asked conversationalist.

“About three or four more hours, it depends on whether we’re stopping or not again.”

“Do you think we could?” Rey said, slowly. “Stop again to rest when we get near Jersey?”

Ben frowned. “Why would you want to rest so close?”

“I mean, not if it’s gonna make you late for your appointment or anything!” she was quick to add. “It’s just, if we stop for a while, we would arrive in New York by 8 or 9 in the morning, right?”

“Correct. And no, you wouldn’t make me late. Don’t worry about it. If it were up to me, I actually wish I’d never arrive,” he finished sorrowfully, stirring up his cup with a tiny straw.

He looked perturbed. But then again, he always looked that way whenever he mentioned what he went back to New York to do. But he wouldn’t tell her, so she didn’t press.

“It’s just… by that time, everyone will be ready and leaving for the wedding. I’m maid of honor, so they need my help putting up things and last minute arrangements. I think I’m gonna need to arrive _ready_ , gown and make-up and all. So that’s why I ask — if we can really stop again when we get closer so I can at least take a shower and change.”

“That’s actually a good idea,” Ben acquiesced. “We’re making good time, I think we can stop at a motel somewhere and let you get dressed properly.”

Rey gave him a toothy grin. She had no idea why a complete stranger would be so accommodating to her. He would be the first in Rey’s life. “Thank you, Ben.”

He smiled back, genuinely, but the gesture looked so foreign on his face his brain assumed it was preparing for a wide mouth yawn.

She shook her head at him, fondly.

After sometime, Rey left to go to the loo. She didn’t lock the door this time, just in case.

She washed her face and freshened up a little, brushing her teeth and tying her hair up in an bun. _As best as it can get,_ she stared at herself in the mirror.

When she came back to their table, she found Ben sound asleep, face down on his tablet.

A waitress — finally someone who _worked_ there — stopped by next to Rey, her arms crossed and a distasteful expression on her face. The middle-aged woman with a crooked ‘Sharon’ nametag on her uniform eyed her up from head to toe.

“Your boyfriend passed out.”

“He didn’t pass out, he fell _asleep_ ,” Rey found herself defending him fiercely. “And we would like the check, please.”

After paying, Rey went back to their table, and now Ben was gently snoring. She removed the tablet from under him so it wouldn’t get any drool on it, and still he didn’t stir.

He didn’t appear to be a heavy sleeper, so he must be truly exhausted right now.

_He’s been driving in the snow for the past few hours. After a long, stressful flight._

Rey bit her tongue. _He_ is _drunk. Drunk from sleep deprivation._

She touched his shoulder, delicately. “Ben,” she called.

Nothing.

“ _Ben,_ ” she called firmer, standing on her knees to be on his level. He turned his head and opened one eye on her general direction. “Hm?”

He looked adorable.

“We’re going,” she told him. “I’ll drive.”

He made an unintelligible noise in agreement, and Rey imagined she would have to manhandle him back to the car, but turned out he behaved nicely till the door closed.

She let him doze off on the passenger seat.

 _No need to make him stay awake, I’m definitely awake now_ , Rey thought as she drove, the light music and white scenery filling her senses. She looked down at Ben fondly, who was trying to envelop his massive body more comfortably on the seat. _Besides, I owe him that much._

Rey thought she would have more difficulty adapting herself to driving on the left, but as she focused on making sure she was driving safely for Ben, suddenly the whole thing became easier.

She had no idea what the new day would bring. January 1st. It felt like the past twelve hours went by in a blur, turning her world upside down.

Tomorrow, January 2nd, Finn would be a married man.

Tomorrow seemed to be such a distant reality, but it felt like time and space were mocking her today.  

Tomorrow, she might never see Ben again.

She didn’t know how long she drove for.

In the small hours of the morning, she found a pair of curious black eyes staring sleepily at her. Ben appeared to be partially awake, and was watching her.

“You’re a good driver,” he commented, his voice softened by sleep. “I think my father would have liked you.”

It was the first time he mentioned his family without being prompted. Rey couldn’t help but perk up, attentive on his every word.

“You know, I’m going to his funeral,” he said, closing his eyes again.

Rey never knew whether or not he intended to tell her that.

Ben fell back asleep, leaving her alone again on the driver's seat.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any inaccuracies. As you know, I'm neither American nor is English my native language. But I had 1 chance to include Waffle House on this story and I wouldn't blow it up, lol.
> 
> As always, kudos and comments fuel me and make me write faster!
> 
> And yes, I saw Ben alone in the corner and thought "Heck, you know what, guess I'm joining him in the 'I killed Han Solo' club. So far, there's only the two of us, but you're more than welcome to join us.


	6. Something borrowed...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All aboard the Ben Solo pain train.

 

Rey didn’t know what it was like to have a family.

But damn, did she know how it felt like to lose one all her life.

Every birthday and every holiday at the orphanage, Rey had longed for a mother’s embrace — a father’s smile and wink — like every other kid she knew. The kids she knew from television, at least.

When Finn came around, a little boy just as lost as she was, it became easier. They cared for each other (and Rey told herself it was all she needed), but the pang and the questions never really went away.

Grown-up Rey, world-weary and independent Rey, had no _practical_ use for a family, nowadays. It didn’t stop her from wanting to be part of one with all her heart.

So that’s why, after Ben’s casual admission of his father’s passing, Rey reflected about his character for the first time since their reluctant companionship started.

 _What kind of person doesn’t care about a parent’s passing?_ , Rey thought as she kept driving into early dawn. _Perhaps that’s what he meant on the plane. After seven years away from family, there are some things you can never take back._

That’s when Rey realized her own indiscretion. She told him to call his father as a new year resolution. Whether he liked him or not, that must have hurt Ben.

 _To heart his father’s voice._ It was something he could have done, as early as the past holidays, but now, he would never get to do it again. _How isn’t guilt clawing through him like a dagger?_

He looked… normal. Not like someone who had just lost a dad, in Rey’s experience.

She sneaked a glance at his sleeping figure again. _No_ , something in her gut told her. _He looks sad. He looks like someone who’s gotten used to being sad, and this is just one more thing piling up in the reasons why._

Rey wondered about Ben and his father’s relationship. All she knew so far was that the two of them had wildly different personalities, he disapproved of Ben’s choice in higher education, and that he and his mother had divorced a long time ago.

Not exactly dad of the year, but she also didn’t think that was enough to completely stop talking to your son for over seven years.

Or your mother, by extension. But then again, Ben had mentioned not _seeing_ her, not exactly losing touch with her. Rey was confused.

Their conversation from earlier came crashing back to her mind, _‘I feel like I still don’t know you at all.”_

_‘Rey, you probably know me better than half of the people in my life by now.’_

How lonely would a person have to be so that sentence would be true.

Perhaps he didn’t want to bother her by telling her. Perhaps he thought she would treat him differently, if she knew one of his parents had died, when she made it clear how much the subject meant to her — and so little, apparently, to him.

Either way, Rey felt a rush of protectiveness toward the pedantic lawyer who just wanted to be left alone. _But_ being _alone is an entirely different story._

She decided, right then, she would never let him feel that way. Not her.

Even if Ben pushed her away, she would still offer him her friendship when this novelty was all done. Hell knows how much he needed one right now.

And if he saw fit not to tell her the purpose of his trip while he had control over his senses, then she wouldn’t mention it. That was a personal matter Rey had no business with.

January 2nd begun to feel less like a hazy blur. She would talk to him, then.

It didn’t have to be over now.

Rey’s grip was steady on the wheel, the snow a growing nuisance as she drove from Delaware and into New Jersey at sunrise.

When the sun cracked a shy wintery light over the car’s windows, Ben stirred, mumbling nonsense as he rubbed his eyes and tried to figure out where he was.

He looked over to Rey, his expression fully unguarded and soft with early sunlight, and smiled. A real smile, followed by a tiny nod with his head. “Hi,” he greeted, voice entirely too rough from sleep.

“Hi,” she said with an answering smile. “Good morning.”

“Mornin’,” he frowned, checking immediately his clock. “How long was I out for?”

“A few hours. We’re getting to Jersey now.”

“I don’t remember leaving the diner. Did you have to drag me out of there?”

“No, you helped me,” Rey laughed. “Hey, don’t you _dare_ worrying about sleeping on me, Ben, I actually drove better without having to listen to your driving ‘inputs’ every three minutes. Time went by faster.”

He thought to rebut, but then let it go. “You must be exhausted, though.”

She didn’t lie. “Yeah.”

“Stop when you see a motel, it’s early,” he pulled himself up on the seat. “Let’s hope there’s any vacancy.”

“Wait, what’s that place over there?” Rey inquired, pointing to a building on her side of the road.

Ben turned to look at it, then made a double look. His nose crunched up in disgust. “No, Rey, that’s not our only option. We’ll keep searching.”

“Are you sure? We seem to be pretty much in the middle of nowhere. What if there isn’t anything for miles?”

“I’m pretty sure we can find someplace else.”

“With all this snow?”

“Rey, please don’t be difficult about this…”

“It’s the first of January, everything’s closed!”

“We’re _not_ stopping here.”

 

*

 

“Welcome to Jade Prairie Motel, what can I get you,” the bored teenager looked she would rather be anywhere else but freezing behind a poorly-heated counter at the most uncivilized part of Jersey.

“We would like two rooms, please,” Ben said through gritted teeth.

“And I would like a full-ride to the MIT,” she rolled her eyes. “Listen, I’m not a kid. I know you’re banging. Besides, you know we’re completely full, right? It’s the first of January, so what are you two even _thinking_? I’ll get you a twin and that’ll be it,” the girl got a solitary key hanging from a wall next to the cash register. “Follow me.”

Rey could only blink.

“Okay.”

They followed the girl to the corridor. She showed them to a room, right next to a fire exit. She shoved the key on Rey’s hand, then immediately made for the stairs back to the front of the building. Ben stopped her by the arm.

“I’ll give you five extra bucks if you get us clean towels.”

She smirked, then gave him a sly wink. “First cash, _then_ towels.”

“Fine,” he muttered, throwing the note at her. She opened a supply closet at the end of the hall, then came back with two white towels. “All yours,” she dumped them on his arms, then closed the door behind them with a loud thud.

It was just them now.

Rey looked around. The girl hadn’t been kidding. The room was comprised of one twin bed, a small round table with one chair, an old television and the bathroom. The walls were ostensibly falling apart, with peeling blue paint making the ambient as less inviting as possible.

“Just wonderful,” Ben complained, dropping his bag on the table. “And you wanted to stay here. This whole place is one giant fire hazard, all this rotten wood will be the death of someone one of these days... ”

“How did you know she was withholding the towels?” Rey ignored him, far more interested in the more pressing subject.

“This is a dirty motel in small town America, Rey, of _course_ she wouldn’t get us clean towels if she could help it!” he raised his voice, startling her. Ben’s eyes widened in shame.

“I’m sorry, Rey. It’s been a tough day, I shouldn’t have lashed out—”

“It’s okay.”

Ben, for the first time since she’s met him, looked... lost.

“I’ll go take a shower. You, uh, sleep. You need to sleep. Is that alright with you?”

“Of course, Ben,” she said softly.

He disappeared into the bathroom within seconds, taking one of the towels with him.

Rey noticed how bad he felt about unintentionally shouting at her. She wondered if that had to do with his upbringing — if he was used to hearing a lot of screaming around the house. He was a divorce kid after all, he said so himself.

Rey was beginning to learn Ben was nothing but a man of principles. He appeared devastated when he thought he had scared her with his sour mood. She got it, he was a big man, he probably knew what he looked like angry—

But Rey wasn’t afraid of him. Hasn’t ever been, really. Ben had a harsh exterior, and definitely some edges to him, but Rey got the impression she was one of the only people who saw him for whom he really was.

_The good guy, Ben. That’s who you are, you grumpy lawyer._

She opened her suitcase over the chair and hoped to every god who might be listening that her dress hadn’t gotten wrinkled on the plane. Thankfully, it looked fine. She spread it out on the chair, taking out her coat and falling herself onto the mattress.

Rey could take out her boots, but they seemed way too far away right now for her hands to reach. Also, taking them out would require standing up again, and she wasn’t sure she was capable of that, now that she was horizontal on a somewhat comfortable surface. Even the bed appeared to be made out of rotten wood.

The hot water started running in the bathroom, and soon the room was filled with a pleasing warmth that lulled her slowly to sleep.

The wedding was in seven hours. Plenty of time to take a nap...

And Ben would wake her, when it was her turn to get ready.

 _Sweet, dutiful Ben._ He had awoken something in her that she’d always know it was there. It only amplified when he went and did something nice to her with no personal gain, even if he put up an annoyed façade at first.

Back on the plane, after they stopped arguing, he pretty much let her walk all over him with her endless demands and intrusive personal topics and getting her out of a locked loo on the countdown to midnight.

She had drooled on his sleeve, slept on his shoulder, bumped mouths with him in an awkward kiss, walked right into his personal space, and the weirdest part was that he let her. Ben, who seemed to the rest of the world the most reclusive and stuck-up person she’d ever known.

Rey slept with thoughts of Ben’s shy smile curving on his lips.

 _Don’t go getting too attached, girl,_ a rational part of her brain warned her in a last attempt of a well-meaning rescue. She shut it off as her vision went peacefully black, too.

 

* * *

 

 

There was a fresh, heady aroma on the air.

It gradually pulled Rey out of her slumber, blinking hazel eyes and turning on the bed to follow the scent to its source.

Ben was sitting at the corner of the bed, putting up his formal shoes. Rey realized he had taken out her boots during her sleep and covered her with the yellow quilt.

With his back to her, he didn’t realize she was already awake. He stood up and went to the mirror to finish brushing up his black suit.

Ben stopped a moment to contemplate his reflection. His eyes were strangely sad. Swallowing hard, he buttoned up his jacket and begun working on his tie.

All of a sudden, his hands stopped. They were trembling slightly. Ben was a lawyer, he clearly was a man who knew how to tie his own tie.

But right now, he couldn’t.

_It just hit him. What he’s dressing up to do._

Rey’s eyes watered in sympathy.

“Let me help you,” she offered, as she got up from the bed.

“Rey?” he asked, turning around. “Have you been up for long?”

“No,” she lied.

Rey wasn’t sure if there was anything else she shouldn’t have seen.

In contrast to him, Rey looked her worst. She could see her reflection on the mirror. Bed hair, crumpled shirt she’s been wearing since London, smudged makeup, the picture of contemporary decadence.

She stood right in front of him, taking the fabric with both hands and dexterously tying up a perfect knot.

They stared at each other for a moment too long after she was finished.

“Thank you,” he said.

Rey nodded, a bit dazed.

She never took her hands off his chest.

He looked dashing. Elegant, like a politician's son.

Rey wished in that moment that they were in fact, together, on a happy day, heading to her brother’s wedding. Rey wished he was her plus on the ceremony, all easy smiles and wild guesses of the cake’s flavour together with all their friends. She wished he was part of her life after today.

She wished she could make him happy, but he was headed to a funeral.

And there was nothing she could to help.

So she did the next best thing.

She kissed him.

Still using his chest as leverage, she went on her tiptoes and touched their lips sweetly, closing her eyes.

Rey let go then, pulling back to watch his reaction.

Ben had his mouth open comically, like a codfish. She was about to say something, but he pulled her back to his arms, wrapping them up around her waist, and kissed her deeply.

Rey was taken by surprise, but she kissed him back as best as she could. She moved both of her hands to cup Ben’s face and he let out a soft groan, thoroughly exploring her mouth with his tongue. It was passionate and hungry and everything Rey had been sorely wanting for the past hours.

She pulled back to breathe, and Ben delved into the skin of her throat, making her yelp in pleasure. “We could have done that on the plane,” Rey commented, her voice weirdly affected.

“No.” She felt him frowning while he peppered her neck with kisses, “That would hardly be proper.”

Rey laughed despite herself. “And are you that? Proper?”

Ben’s ministrations stopped when he reached her mouth again. He kissed her once more. “Usually,” he confessed. “Not exactly feeling it right now. Rey, I want—”

“Yes.”

“I haven’t said it yet, I—”

“Ben, whatever it is you want, I guarantee you I want it too.”

Rey pulled him by the tie until she was cornered by his massive build on the wall. She kissed him again, biting his lower lip, encouraging him to touch her. _I need this, I need you, I need_ more—

Ben grabbed her thighs and held her weight with his upper body.

“I want to make you come.”

Rey couldn’t help but moan as he carried her back to bed, dropping her on the mattress. “Will you let me, Rey?” Ben hovered above her, all the more appealing wearing a full suit and tie.

“Please,” she managed, as he descended over her with another bruising kiss. “Please, Ben... ”A bit clumsily, Rey got her sweater out of the way, and somehow Ben was able to unclasp her bra, freeing her breasts into the unrelenting, freezing winter air.

But Ben’s mouth was nothing but warm as he sucked on her left breast, cupping the other with a giant hand, and Rey was in heaven. “I’ve been wanting to do this for a while now,” he admitted. “You’re perfect, Rey, you’re so _perfect_ , I’ve never met—”

“Ben, _please_ ,” she groaned, impatient, “For once in your _life_ , shut up and just kiss me.”

Realizing he was being mocked, Ben didn’t let her away with it easy. “Fine,” he growled, taking both of her arms and locking them over her head, “Your way it is.”

And then he completely ravished her mouth, the harsh fabric of his shirt scratching against her nipples. He begun moving lower on her body, dropping kisses and teasing bites on her throat and breasts and stomach. It was _hot_ , the cold completely forgotten, suddenly hotter than Rey had ever felt in her life—

When he finally reached her trousers, the pool gathering between her thighs turning Rey into a blithering mess, Ben stopped, raising his dark eyes at her in a silent question.

Rey nodded.

He opened the two little buttons, almost popping them out of her trousers, and Rey wriggled out of her trousers, letting him help her get them down.

Now Ben was completely dressed while she was left only wearing her knickers.

The power imbalance wasn’t lost on Rey, who for once didn’t care, she just wanted him where she needed him the most, and she knew he would give it to her—

“Rey,” he called out her name, warning. “Isn’t it too hot?”

“Yeah,” she said, stupidly, the sweat gathering in her brow not letting her think about anything else but this, “You’re so _hot_ , Ben, make me feel so good…”

“No, no, Rey,” he took his mouth out of her stomach to look at her, “Can you feel this smell, too?” he added worriedly.

“Like... burning.”

Her eyes shot open.

“Rey, there’s something on _fire_.”

She looked up at the ceiling and saw smoke gathering there, gray and impossibly dense.

“What did you do to the shower?” Rey lowered her voice, menacingly.

“I turned it off!” he shouted, defending himself, “It was giving me shocks, so now it must be broken!”

“Yeah, and on _fire_ ,” she completed. “We need to get out of here. Ben, _my dress_!”

He was off right away, the stress of the situation finally getting to her. “You’re the one who made us stay in this shit-hole!”

“Okay, now is _so_ not the time,” Rey said, sitting up in panic. “What do we do? I can’t leave the room naked! All of my clothes are—”

Ben grabbed her dress from the chair and hung it on his shoulder. Then, with a stroke of genius, he got the sweater that he was wearing earlier and put it over Rey’s head, fitting her like an overgrown nightgown.

They opened the door and found half the motel’s inhabitants waiting outside in the hall, scared out of their wits.

“Yeah, yeah, the room’s on fire, move, MOVE!” Ben screamed, grabbing Rey’s hand and getting them both away from the smoke.

Suddenly, the motel manager showed up out of completely fucking nowhere with a fire extinguisher and went running into the room like a crazy person.

It was freezing outside, already beginning to snow again, and Ben held a trembling Rey from behind as the crowd could only watch gobsmacked the scene unfolding.  

Five minutes later, the manager came out, alive, blowing his fire extinguisher like it was a gun and smugly grinning from ear to ear.

“Can’t believe this is the fifth fire this week, huh,” he boasted, “I’m getting good at this.”

Not a single person dared to blink.

“What are y’all looking at?” he said angrily, “Go back to your rooms, party’s over! And the two of you,” he pointed to Rey and Ben, “the two of you follow me.”

Again.

 

*

 

They weren’t accounted for the fire, obviously.

Rey and Ben followed the completely bonkers motel manager back to the entrance, where he gave them a different key and said that one room was “definitely fire proof” and Ben threatened to sue him.

Rey calmed him down, but she looked ridiculously tiny wearing his sweater and every moment they spent outside was endangering the risk of hypothermia for her, so Ben let it go for the time being.

The angry teenager dropped their things on their new, fire proof room.

The door closed and it was just them. Again.

Rey felt an immense urge to start crying.

Ben dropped his gaze to the floor, not knowing what to do.

 _What was she thinking? Offering herself up to him like a Christmas present, like that was her plan from the start_ , she commiserated in shame. What must he think of her?

She could tell just by looking at him that Ben wasn’t used to this — picking up strangers and taking them to his bed — and she had practically _forced_ herself on him.

“Rey, it’s okay.”

She couldn’t even hold his gaze.

Rey got her dress - that he had carefully placed on the bed - and the things she separated from her suitcase, and headed to the bathroom.

She turned around only once. “Thank you for getting me out safely. And getting my dress for me. I’d… I’d be lost without it.”

“You’re welcome,” he said softly, confusion ( _and fear?_ ) clear in his eyes.

“We’re going to be late if I don’t change soon. Sorry for making you wait,” she apologized, guilt-stricken. “I’ll be quick.”

He wanted to answer her, but she closed the door on him before he could say anything.

 

 

*

 

Exactly thirty-seven minutes later, Rey got out of the bathroom.

She was bathed, dressed and had managed to tie her hair up in a traditional bun.

Ben was waiting for her, sitting on the bed, but he didn’t have his phone nor his tablet out. He appeared to have spent his time while she was away thinking.

He turned to check up on her and his face morphed into an expression of awe.

“You look beautiful,” he blurted out.

Rey blushed.

She walked to face herself in the mirror.

Her dress was light pink to match her fair complexion, so long and rounded its hem dragged on the floor behind her. The flower bud top was tight on her torso, complete with a golden belt around her waist. She wore small heels, glad her shoes weren’t visible under the dress - which was a blessing - for she couldn’t walk straight in heels _(especially higher ones, make her trot around like a duck)_. These shoes were fine, she decided.

Her makeup was light on the lips and heavier with her glowing brown eye shadow and mascara. _This will do_ , she thought.

There was only one thing left to figure out. How to zip the dress up her back.

Ben stood up and was watching her reflection on the mirror, his gaze unreadable.

“Let me help you with that,” he echoed her words from earlier, when she had volunteered to tie his black tie.

Carefully, he worked the zip up until a soft gasp let out from her. “It’s… a bit tight.”

“You’re fine. I’m almost done,” he whispered next to her ear, watching her eyes from the mirror. “There. All ready.”

They stared at each other indirectly for a few countless moments.  

Rey was the one to break it.

“We should leave this place before another fire breaks,” she suggested.

“We should.”

Rey disengaged herself from him, walking to the other side of the room to lock her suitcase.

He coughed once, awkwardly. “Rey, this is an important day to you, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” she said, surprised at the lack of confidence in her voice. She had forgotten it for a second and she blamed herself for her callousness.

His father’s funeral.

You selfish, selfish girl.

“My little brother is getting married today. I couldn’t be happier for him.”

Ben was confused with her reaction.

“What I mean is… you look _stunning_.”

“Thank you. I look okay, I guess.”

Ben didn’t look pleased to hear her answer.

“Let me take a picture of you, so you see what I can see.”

He took his phone out of his pocket and snapped a picture of her as she was, half-turned to him so her dress appeared to be floating.

Ben looked at his phone and smiled. He nodded once to her.

“Shall we go?” he offered. “I’ll drive this last bit.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Their last sprint to New York was spent in silence.

Very uncomfortable silence.

The air was heavy with all the things they wouldn’t say, things they would never _get_ to say after today.

They didn’t mention their kiss, the inexplicable draw Rey felt towards him, what had almost happened inside that burning room—

Ben’s posture was stiff, driving with caution as they approached the results of a night of severe snow on New Jersey’s border.

 _He regrets this_ , she realised. _He regrets you._

He was grieving for his father, in his own twisted, dysfunctional way, and Rey had taken advantage of it.

First, she thought she could take his mind off of it. Then, she could she could… comfort him. By not being able to even think about it, their imminent arrival was starting to take its toll on Ben.

After half an hour of Rey questioning herself and her motives, and whether they were good or not, Ben cleared his throat.

“Rey, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you since the airplane,” he said, arduously. “It has to do with my family… and who we are.”

Rey turned her head and listened intently. _Here it comes._

“Now that we’re almost arriving in the city, there are things you might hear there… And I’d rather if you heard them from me.”

 _This sounds like something else entirely._ She blinked. “Okay.”

“I’m not exactly a good person - or a good lawyer, come to that,” his voice became distant, like he was summoning a particularly distasteful memory. “Before I specialized in divorce legislation, I was a… different kind of attorney. My boss - he made do things in my youth, saying it was for the sake of my success — things that I wouldn’t have done today. In result, I ended up a fairly ruthless professional.”

“Some lawyers are pretty ruthless… it’s part of the job description. It’s not like you’re doing anything illegal, right?”

“No,” he laughed bitterly. “I wasn’t. My father, on the other hand — he was.”

“Oh,” Rey didn’t like where this conversation was heading.

“My father was involved with international smuggling. The repercussion was destroying my mother’s career in politics, and I got furious with him,” Ben explained. “My boss… Snoke - he took the evidence I gathered against him and threatened him, saying he would get him in jail if he destroyed my future with the Law.”

“That sounds terrible, Ben,” Rey sympathized.

“I… endorsed him. Snoke had made me believe my affiliation with Father would be the end of me, just like my mother couldn’t run from her past beside him.”

Rey waited for the ball to drop.

“We had a pretty ugly fight. Mother had a heart attack from the stress — she’s fine now,” he quickly added, swallowing. “Father said he would disown me, for choosing Snoke over him. That… was the last thing he ever said to me, seven years ago.”

“Oh, Ben.”

“Guess I’m gonna find out whether he did or not today.”

“Why did you remain with Snoke after that?” Rey asked, bewildered.

“He was a good teacher to me. He allowed me to change my specification to divorce when my conscience was killing me, a different kind of work. He had plans for me. You see, no one in my family ever cared much about what I wanted, or who I was. Snoke was the first to see my potential, and I’ll always be very grateful for that.”

“And to what end, Ben?” Rey couldn’t reconcile the man who framed his own father with the person she had come to care about. “What kind of life is it that you live? You’re not even happy!”

“I didn’t expect you to understand,” he said, his tone final and arrogant.

“I can’t believe you’re still holding on to these values after knowing all that you do. This man’s _using_ you, you don’t need him anymore!”

“Well, he was right,” Ben cut her. “At least he wasn’t a filthy liar, like Solo.”

“Your father just _died_ and you insist on acting like the biggest arsehole in the world and renouncing your family like you’re just so much better. Why, Ben? Why are you doing this?”

The atmosphere inside the car became chilly.

“How did you know about my father?”

Rey realized he never exactly mentioned his dad had passed. “You told me.”

“I’m pretty sure I didn’t,” he said, sardonic. “You… researched me.”

“No, Ben! You told me while you were sleeping. In the car. I figured out the rest by context,” she defended herself.

“I would never call out to my father in my sleep,” he spit. “I’m not a child, and Han Solo was not my father!”

Oh fuck, she’s not going to make him understand what happened. Not with him like this.

“Yes, he was!” Rey was shouting now.

“Oh, yeah? Like _your_ father was?” Ben mocked. “Do you reckon your parents realized they’re living proof that two wrongs don’t make a right, and that’s why they left you?”

Ben shut up immediately after screaming that, like he had just realized what came out of his mouth.

There was dead, cutting silence.

“Stop the car.”

“Rey, no, I didn’t mean—”

“Ben, _stop this car._ ” Rey ordered. “Stop now!”

The car halted, going into the sidelines in a dangerous turn.

There was a convenience store a hundred feet away.

Rey opened the door, taking her suitcase with her.

“Please, Rey, come back, I’m not leaving you out here in the snow!” he pleaded.

“You know what, save your breath. You’ll probably need it to blow up your next attempt at a relationship.”

Rey shut the door on him.

She started walking, her shoes sinking on the deep layer of snow on the ground.

The car started following her, and Ben opened the window—

“Rey, stop this madness, come back to the car!” he yelled. He looked miserable.

“GET OFF, PLAYBOY!” she screamed with so much fervor Ben’s eyes widened at her full channelized fury. “Goodbye, Ben Solo, see you _never._ ”

She practically ran to the store, and when she noticed she wasn’t being followed, she let her guard down and fell into tears.

The clerk, an old woman who had watched their exchange from the window, ran over to comfort her. That only made Rey sob harder.

She got her phone from her coat’s pocket, and called the one person who could help her now.

_“Rey? What’s wrong? Where are you?”_

“Poe?” she sniffed. “C-can you please come and get me? I’m… I’m not far.”

_“I’m going to fucking kill that son of a bitch.”_

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we are. Only one chapter left, and our couple just got to their lowest point. I don't like being mean to them... but I tend to do that at lot, lol.
> 
> Rey's dress [here](https://cf-images.us-east-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/769341148/a42f7511-e949-4315-bb8b-9127f40971fb/9ac0cf3c-28d3-440b-a8d9-ad57d5562139/1296x730/match/image.jpg).
> 
> Ben's picture of her [here](http://www.jedicenter.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/THR_DaisyRidley_S02-0189_2_embed1.jpg).
> 
> See you all next week for the grand finale! Let me know in the comments what you thought about this chapter, I'd love to your opinions <3


	7. One Wedding and a Funeral

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I think I could fall in love with you,” he whispered. “But that will only happen if you stay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: detailed description of a funeral and the feelings of losing a loved one.

 

“And so when I told him, naturally, he started freaking out,” Poe babbled on driver’s seat of his SUV. He was trying to distract her. “Finn wanted to charter you a private _jet_ to NYC. But Rose was like, ‘Finn, you gotta trust her’ and then he panicked some more, toppled over some lights, and finally let go. They’re heading to Central Park now.”

It wasn’t working.

“Rey, are you listening?”

She wasn’t, really.

This was supposed to be one of the happiest days in Rey’s life. Instead, she felt… underwhelmed? Disappointed? Furious?

 _Heartbroken is the proper term_ , a malicious voice in her head added. _You’re heartbroken over some guy you just met on a flight._

In the end, her first impression had won. Ben was a jerk. An arrogant lawyer who selfishly disdained for the feelings of others, and she couldn’t _believe_ she ever thought otherwise of him.

 _And the saddest part_ , another voice said, _is that you really thought he might be the one, didn’t you?_

She shook her head, trying to get back to the real world, where a worried Poe was talking to her and hopelessly trying to make her feel better.

“And how’s the weather back there?” Rey interrupted whatever he had been saying to her. “Is the blizzard over?”

“Stopped around 5 AM. The photographers are having a field day. Snow is a bitch to every other human activity, but man, does it provide beautiful pictures. They started the photoshoot at dawn — Rose can’t wait to show you what they’ve done with Paige’s present.”

“Cool,” she answered, not really feeling it.

Poe was silent after that, lacking neutral conversation topics. Rey was glad. He focused on the road instead, traffic getting busier as they approached the state border.

He had found her freezing at the convenience store, twenty minutes ago.

The lady had sat Rey down and given her a espresso, fussing all over her. Now she realised she might have scared the older woman with her catatonic state. She wouldn’t say anything, wouldn’t drink her coffee or even grab her coat from her bag.

When Poe arrived, Rey had already stopped crying.

She remembered him quickly thanking the shopkeeper and leading her to his car. He didn’t say much either, biting his lip in concern and watching her with a strange expression.

 _It was supposed to be Ben_ _,_ she thought. _She was supposed to arrive with Ben._

Rey had it all planned out… before it all went to hell.

She would hold his hand, as gently as she ever held anything. She’d tell him she would accompany him to the funeral if he wished, for company and support.

She’d tell him she wouldn’t leave him after today. Had no desire, no inclination, no reason to let this be the end. And then she would ask him whether he felt the same.

Rey would find his mother and hold her so dearly. Somehow, she felt her loss keenly in her bones.

She felt so close to him — she thought it had meant _something_.

But it was a lie. Ben was a professional liar.

_And if that was so, then why did she feel miserable?_

“Poe,” she whispered. “Have you ever felt like you’d never be happy at love?”

Her friend smiled sadly. “Yeah,” he answered. “I have.”

Rey dried the tear that insisted on falling down her cheek. She turned to look at him in quiet curiosity.

“You, Poe?” she emphasised, unbelieving.

“Me, babe,” he said, a bit uncomfortable. This was clearly something hard to discuss for him. But unlike Rey, Poe hid his hurt with a cocky smile and a bottle of jack.

“How do you cope?” she asked. “What does one even do about it?”

Poe took a deep breath, dreading where this conversation was going. But Rey needed to know.

“You carry on, Rey,” he said. “You thank them for what they taught you, for the changes they brought that helped you grow, you wish them a happy life, and you move on. If you find love again, it’s a bonus. If you don’t, well, then at least you found a bit of yourself.”

“I’m sure it’s all more complicated than you make it sound.”

“Well, _and_ if you’re smart, you’ll also try to put an ocean between each other if you can.”

Rey chuckled lightly. “Is that what you do?”

“Oh, no,” he snorted. “I’m not smart.”

She let that sink in for a while.

“You sounded a bit strange,” she pondered, a few minutes later. “At the phone. When I called you from DC.”

“Did I?” Poe said, distractedly.

“Yeah. You made me think there was something wrong between you and Finn,” she recalled. “Why didn’t you go back to his bachelor party? You’re his best man.”

Poe swallowed with some difficulty. He kept driving on the middle lane, like he wasn’t on a rush at all to get to central Manhattan.

“You know why, Rey,” he laughed humorless.

Rey flinched. She didn’t want it to be true, for his own sake.

“I think you’re the one person, apart from Rose, who’s always known why,” Poe finished bittersweet.

Flashes of younger, smiling men in uniform flooded Rey’s memories. How Poe always seemed to hold her brother a bit too tightly in the official photographs… how he smiled at him like he lit up his entire world. And perhaps he did, what did she know.

Poe reflected further, like he hasn’t considered this for some time. “The difference is that she thinks I’ve grown out of it.”

“And have you?” she asked in a small, sympathetic voice.

“No. I don’t think I ever will.”

“Why don’t you run away? Save yourself from the pain of—”

“Because it’s the best part of me.” Poe said, resolute. “What I feel for him… it makes me a better person. Before Finn, I was lost. I had no direction and I was slowly sinking. His light… saved me. I’m thankful for having him in my life.”

“Oh, Poe.”

“Even if it’s not in the way I would want him if I could choose.”

“Are you really okay about all of this?” Rey needed to know. She wasn’t about to let her friend go through hell and back for the sake of duty. “I know Finn is my brother, but if you want to stop now, I can tell them we were set back by the snow, we could—”

“No, no, Rey.”

She was almost crying again. It was too much.

_There are no happy endings in the world, dreamer._

“Darling, look at me.”

She did. She had no right to cry in front of him. Poe faced his pain with his head held high, and so should she. _There’s so much I should learn from you, my friend._

“I’m fine. I truly _am_ fine. Whether Finn gets married or not, he’ll forever remain by my side. As my best friend. That’s the most important thing in the universe for me. I wouldn’t dare lose it for a fleeting romance he might grow out of with time. He probably _would_ have already, if we had started dating back at the army. No, this is a million times more important.”

“Look at you, flyboy,” Rey’s tone was of pure admiration. “I’m beginning to think you might be the wisest person I know.”

“Who would have thought, right?” he joked.

They laughed together for a moment.

“Hey, Poe,” Rey said. “For what it’s worth, I just wanted you to know that I’ll always be by your side as well. We, losers, need to stick together after all.”

“Duly noted.”

The air suddenly cleared around them.

Rey smiled, clutching his hand firmly on the car gear. They were leaving the interstate and taking the exit to New York.

“When you’re ready to talk about your creepy lawyer, just know that I’m also all ears.”

Rey’s face turned pink. “He’s not _creepy_. He’s the biggest twat I’ve ever met.”

“And that somehow makes it better...?” Poe pondered, confused.

“He hurt me, Poe. What he said to me was out of line, period. The worst part was that he made me trust him. And I did,” she lamented. “I wore my heart on my sleeve, and when he saw the chance he stomped on it.”

“Did he do it on _purpose_?”

“I don’t know,” she shook her head. “He was probably… projecting too hard. And then he ran his mouth too much. He does that, you see.”

“Okay. And what was his aggravating reason that you mentioned earlier?”

“He was going to his father’s funeral.”

“Oh, that’s… a reason, alright.”

“He thought I was lying to him about not knowing his identity or something. He was completely paranoid and out of his mind, so I told him to stop and left the car.”

“The spirits were that high, then,” Poe evaluated.

“Yeah,” she agreed.

“What if he apologized to you?” he hypothesized. “He comes right in front of you, looks you in the eye and says he’s sorry. What would you do then? Would you forgive him?”

Rey thought about what Poe had advised her. “I don’t know, Poe.”

“That makes two of us then.”

She nudged his arm, playfully.

It was then she realized. That would never happen, either way. They would never speak again.

Rey never saw the picture he took off her on his phone.

She never actually got his number.

 

 

*

 

 

Beebee ran around the park, drowning in snow and as happy as the day he was born.

The day was beautiful. Rose’s family was starting to arrive at the location, a stunningly styled porch with a view to the whole of Central Park. Paige led them inside to finish preparations and stay warm until they were called by the priest to the ceremony.

Rey asked for a task where she didn’t have to interact much with people. She hadn’t seen Finn yet and wasn’t feeling much like conversation.

She was tasked then with hanging the lights over wedding arch — but Beebee the dog kept tangling himself around the electric wires, which required the intervention of an angry Poe.

Rey took a step back, contemplating her handiwork. But then a pair of hands went over her eyes, and she was blind.

“Finn?” she called.

The hands pulled back quickly. “How did you know it was me?”

She turned around laughing, and caught her brother in a loving embrace. “You were the only one missing, it wasn’t hard!”

“Peanut, I’m so glad you’re here,” Finn sighed in her hair.

He looked ‘wickedly handsome’, as his fiancé would put it. Rey nodded in approval, eyeing him from head to toe. He wore a purple-ish tuxedo with a bowtie that flickered with sunlight. “And who dressed you?” she cooed.

“Paige, of course,” he rolled his eyes.

“It’s always nice to count with the help of a supermodel, isn’t it?” Rey mocked. “What would you even need me for then?”

“Well, picking a wedding cake flavour, obviously.”

“I’m so curious,” she let out a squee in anticipation. “What did you two get?”

“It’s a surprise, Rey. But I bet you’ll write something amazing about it,” he smiled.

She fidgeted a little awkwardly. “Yeah, I’ll try,” she said.

Rey really didn’t want to think about work now. The last person she talked about her work with was Ben. She’d never forget how amused and interested his eyes looked while she described to him her successful article, back at the first hours of their flight.

She shook her head.

“So JFK played a trick on you,” Finn said, taking her arm. They walked away from the buzz of preparations to a quieter place, over a bridge.

“You could say that,” she agreed.

“Poe mentioned something about you renting a car with a lawyer who was coming to Manhattan,” he frowned, a bit incredulous.

“I did. It didn’t really work out. Poe drove me the rest of the way from Jersey.”

“Oh my god, Rey, why didn’t you call me?”

She blushed. Why did everyone want to talk about this? Couldn’t they just leave her be? People took rides all the time. Granted, they usually didn’t share their life stories, a motel room and bodily fluids with a person they had only just met on a plane, but Ben wasn’t most people.

“I didn’t want to worry you,” she admitted. “This is your big day, you’re supposed to focus on your bride. Besides, I knew I’d be okay and get here on time. And look at me. _I’m here on time,_ ” she teased.

“ _Yes_ , but at what cost? Sis, I don’t wanna alarm you, but you’re looking a bit… down. I knew you shouldn’t have flown an entire ocean today, did you even get some sleep?”

She wiggled her feet, looking down. “I slept a little. Am I looking that awful?”

“No, peanut, you _always_ look gorgeous. But there’s something about your expression… did something happen on the way here?”

Rey kept her gaze down.

“Maybe something to do with... this American lawyer you met?”

She knew she looked guilty. There was nothing she could hide from her brother.

“Oh, Finn. I thought I knew what I was getting myself into. It turned out... I had no idea.”

“What happened between you?” he asked softly.

_He made me want to leave this country and never come back._

“He was nice to me. A gentleman, even,” she huffed. “Until he wasn’t. Turns out he was waiting for the exact moment to go for the jugular, and I figured I had no reason to stay anymore. I don’t wanna talk about this anymore.”

“I’m so sorry, Rey,” Finn said. “But we’re gonna have a wonderful time today, you’ll see. I won’t rest until I see a true smile on your face,” he booped her nose.

She laughed. “There it is,” he praised.

Rey hugged him. He returned it fiercely. A couple minutes later, he let go.

“Come,” he called. “Everyone’s waiting for us.”

Rey nodded, eager to get back to the joyous atmosphere around all of their friends. It was a beginning, at least.  


 

 

* * *

 

 

Ben Solo knew he was a colossal fuck up.

He just didn’t know precisely how much, not until today.

After leaving Rey on the road, he had stopped only a mile later, pulling over with the rental car and dropping his head forcefully on the steering wheel. It hurt, but he deserved it.

 _Rey was too good for someone like me_ , he tried to rationalize it. _If I were her, I’d been gone much sooner._

It was a dick move, he knew. It was obviously all his fault.

Things had been going smoothly before he went and opened his forking mouth to insult her less than ideal circumstances. Not that his was much better, after renouncing his own father who now laid dead in a coffin, at the end of this journey.

 _Fuck,_ he cursed. If only Rey was with him.

He had planned to tell her back at the motel, when she was changing into her party gown. He’d tell her that he needed her help, that he’d do anything in return… if she could just stay with him while he faced his estranged family for the first time in seven years.

She was attracted to him. That was a start. Ben thought that, with time, she could even grow to care for him, if he could only make her stay. Convince her not to give up on him.

Of course, that ship had already sailed and never coming back to port.

Still, Ben felt like he owed that insufferable, passionate, beautiful British journalist something — for yelling at him and calling him out on his bullshit.

He decided to make a call. It lasted about thirteen seconds.

Satisfied, he dropped his work phone at the glove compartment and closed it with a snap.

With newfound bravery, Ben drove the rest of the way until The Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.

 

*

  


He was greeted by his mother, who looked much older and more tired than her age suggested. “Son,” the senator said, the title almost a solemn statement in her voice.

Ben knew every person in the room was staring. It was a common occurrence whenever he and Leia Organa-Solo shared the same air and addressed one another.

They were all waiting for him to snap. Unfortunately for them, Ben wasn’t about to do that. His mother was old and Ben was exhausted of pretending he didn’t need her.

He closed the space between, wrapping his arms around the petite woman in a long hug.

“Mother,” he closed his eyes.

It has been too long.

“I’m glad you’re here, Ben,” she whispered.  

Ben pulled back to study her face. Her eyes, brown like his and his grandmother’s before him, were wrinkled and kind as she watched her son.

“Looking sharp, kid,” a familiar voice approached them.

“Luke,” Ben greeted, neutral. He shook his uncle’s hand firmly. Awaiting a short rebuttal, Ben pulled away, but his uncle too enveloped him in a tight hug, his arm over Ben’s neck in a stern demonstration of affection.

_His family._

All that he had left.

“Where’s he?” Ben asked, looking around timidly.

“In the other room,” Leia gestured with her head, a tight nod at the corridor’s direction.

Ben was suddenly at loss. Should he go? What else was he expecting to find there, but a cold, lesser version of whom his father used to be?

“I’d rather stay here with you, if you don’t mind,” he told his mother softly.

Leia’s eyes watered. He held her trembling hands and she raised his palm in a kiss. “Oh, Ben, my boy. You’ve no idea how I missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too, mom,” he confessed. “I’ve had a rough day before coming here… I quit.”

“You what?” Luke raised his eyebrow, incredulous.

“I quit my job. Told Snoke to stuck it up his— well, you can imagine how well it went.”

“Did he threaten to murder you? Luke mused.

“Four times.”

“Impressive.”

“Very impressive, considering the call lasted less than fifteen seconds.”

“Well, you could always work with me,” his uncle offered. “I hope to hire a new editor-in-chief this Wednesday, but the publisher’s still out of lawyer representatives.”

“Yeah, over my dead body,” Ben dismissed, quickly, then realized where he was. “Oh... too soon.”

His mother and uncle were silent. Then Luke burst on laughing. “Fine, fine, kiddo. Guess it’s time you opened your own firm. Your old man would be proud.”

Ben was tight-lipped about it. “No, he wouldn’t.”

Leia was the one to intervene. “He would, Ben. Your father… Han was with me just before he passed. I went to the hospital to see him. His last words were about you.”

He swallowed hard.

“What did he say?”

“He told me to find you… and take you home. But I didn’t have to. You did it yourself,” she smiled wistfully.

“Yeah, about that… I’m sorry, mom,” Ben apologized. “I’m sorry it took me this long. Someone… helped me. She helped me see it when I couldn’t.”

“And where is she now?”

Ben looked away in shame.

“I drove her away. I think— I think I was scared.”

“Benjamin Organa Solo, lawyer extraordinaire, scared of a woman?” Luke mocked. He was trying to rile him up, and Ben fell right into it.

“She’s not just _a_ woman,” Ben defended her. Then he added in a low voice, “I think she might be the one.

Luke stood right in front of him. “Then what are you still doing here?”

“Excuse me?”

“Why aren’t you going after her, you moron?” Luke reproached, but Leia was quick to interrupt him, “What your uncle _means_ to say — Ben, there’s nothing your dad can do for you anymore. But _you_ still can. Go after her.”

“Are you serious?” Ben’s heart was suddenly filled with expectation.

“I’ll still be here when you return. And we can all go out to dinner.”

“I’m not sure she would like that, mom,” he banished the thought before it took roots on his mother’s machiavellian mind. “Besides, I’m not sure she will even want to _speak_ to me ever again.”

“And where is this girl now, Ben?” Leia asked patiently.

“A wedding.”

Leia exclaimed “ _Her_ wedding?!” at the same time Luke shouted “Stop her!!” on the top of his lungs.

“No, you two are impossible,” Ben rolled his eyes. “She’s at her _brother’s_ wedding at Central Park,” he elucidated.

“Oh, son, if I remember correctly, you’re a killjoy at weddings anyway — what was it that Han used to say?” Luke pondered.

“Nothing worth remembering,” Ben said through gritted teeth. _Not this again._

“Still, Ben.” His mother touched his hand sweetly. “There’s nothing for you here. Go. I’ll meet you later.”

She kissed his forehead, her lips as soft as he remembered.

Luke agreed. “Go get your girl.”

“Thank you, mom,” he squeezed her hand. He addressed his uncle with a nod of his head, “Luke.”

Ben turned around, going into the direction of the closed room.

“Where are you going?” Luke asked.

“I’ve come this far already,” Ben shrugged, but his posture was still tense. _They can see right through you._ “I need to pay my respects. It’s… it’s only right.’

He closed the door behind him.

Ben had seen dead bodies before.

But none of them were people he had known in life, and none of them had been his father.

He looked old, world-weary. It seemed his hair had completely greyed, after all. It was a question of vanity for Han to keep his youth looks about him for as long as possible. He either didn’t succeed or just… gave up.

Apart from that, he looked the same. The same man that had raised him, fought him, and abandoned him, not exactly in that order.

But Ben didn’t feel anger anymore.

Instead, he felt nothing like he was expecting. He looked at his father, who had lived a shitty life on this plane of existence (a lot of it by his own account)... and all he felt was that he was now at peace.

He walked as close as his conscience would allow him.

Ben addressed his father’s empty shell.

“You drove us all away,” he started, unsure. “Your wife, then your son, your friends, and all that you held dear. I thought I would end like just like you. Alone.”

Ben grasped his cold hand. “But, Father, I’m glad you weren’t alone… at the end.”

“I’m not like you. I’m not anything like you, Solo. But it would seem that, even so, we share the same beating heart. I won’t make your mistakes. You may think I wasn’t listening, but this... I learned from you. No man is an island. Thank you for finally making me understand.”

“Rest in peace, Han Solo,” Ben wished, solemn.

He walked away, leaving his sorrows behind to die in that room.

Ben wondered if that was what closure felt like.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The scene was unfolding in the way she had always hoped it would be. Perfect.

Rey and Poe had walked down the aisle together after Paige and the bridesmaids to the beautiful music Finn and Rose had picked to accompany their entrance. They stood behind a nerve-wrecked Finn, who was fidgeting endlessly as he watched all those people sitting in place, but no bride in sight.

 _“Do you think she’s got the wedding jitters?”_ Poe whispered to her in concern.

 _“I don’t think so, Kaydel was with her when I left,_ she answered. _“They were putting on the veil.”_

Out of nowhere, Finn was hit by a snowball.

Everyone looked in bewilderment at the groom’s tux, now sporting a purple and white polka dot. He was hit again and again, and suddenly the source of mischief escaped her hiding place.

The music stopped, and all heads turned to face the far end of the walk.

It was the bride.

She looked positively luminous.

Rose was wearing a gorgeous strapless gown with embroidery on her bodice, a two-tier veil over her head, and a matching crystal headpiece. She held a French rose silk bouquet.

“What?” she said. “You were all looking so serious!”

And then, a pop version opening to the bridal chorus started to play. All the guests laughed as they stood up again for the bride.

Down the isle she came, with a grin so big it enveloped her entire face, from ear to ear.

Her dad held her left arm and smiled at her as they reached the bottom step. There awaiting her was the priest and her husband-to-be.

Rey sighed in relief.

She squeezed Poe’s hand.

 _“Are you okay?”_ she checked.

He nodded once, smiling as he watched Rose greet Finn with a bear hug.

The ceremony ran smoothly, with the crowd reacting humorously to the bride and groom’s witty remarks throughout the priest’s speech.

Rey couldn’t believe how lovely it all was. The winter wonderland feel of it all was definitely worth all the hindrances and problems along the way.

After a while, they were all asked to stand for the vows.

Finn begun, teary-eyed and emotional.

Out of the blue, Rey felt something poking her arm. It was Poe. _What the hell?_

 _“Rey, what did you say your lawyer looked like again?”_ he asked, sounding absolutely crazed to her ears.

 _“I didn’t,”_ she censured him, as a way of shutting him up. _“Not now, Poe.”_

“Just tell me how he looks like,” he insisted.

“He’s entirely too tall for his own good, dark-haired—”

“—aquiline nose, built like a tank?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s running this way.”

What.

Rey looked over to where Poe was pointing not-so-discreetly with the corner of his mouth.

A wild Ben Solo had appeared on the other side of the porch and he was approaching faster than a raging bull, hampered by the large mountain of snow. The scene would be comical if it wasn’t preposterous.

“So, should anyone here present,” Rey’s attention diverted back to the priest, “know of any reason that this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony…”

Rey’s eyes widened in shock as Ben invaded the ceremony and attempted to discreetly walk through the outer side of aisle so to reach bridesmaids place near the altar.

“... Speak now or forever hold your peace.”

But the man was a giant and immediately tripped over the floral decorations, toppling over the plants and falling down on the snow.

Everybody looked behind them to find a strange man interrupting the wedding right in the middle of the vows. The priest looked like he was about to pass out.

Rose was the last one to turn around and see for herself what the fuss was all about. Ben stood up awkwardly, wanting the ground to open up and swallow him whole, but Rose just sized him up.

“You’re too late,” she said to him, casually.

“Rose!” Finn exclaimed.

The petite woman giggled. “I’m joking, my love. This is all so scandalous!” Rose decided to take the lead of the interrogation. “Who are you, stranger-that-I-have-never-seen- before-in-my-life? Just so _everyone_ knows!” she shouted that last bit.

Ben was almost purple with shame.

“I am terribly sorry for disrupting your wonderful ceremony, ma’am,” he said, dangerously out of breath. He pointed in Rey’s direction. “I just— I just need to speak to the maid of honor... that, of course, if she would allow it.”

Now everyone turned to Rey.

“She would not.”

Ben’s face fell.

“Not until after the ceremony!” she ordered. “Ben, you’re making a scene, just come over here already and let my brother be married to the love of his life before evening!”

“Rey, I— of course, I’ll just,” Ben ran the final steps so he could stand between her and Poe, absolutely towering over the two of them. “Please, do continue.”

The priest looked over at Rose and Finn for permission.

Finn was mortified. Rose just shrugged.

He coughed once to clear his throat. “As I was saying, should anyone here present…”

 _“Can we skip that part? We already got the drama,”_ the bride whispered, gingerly flicking her hand underneath her chin.

“Oh— yes,” the priest looked completely lost. “It is at this time that I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

There was silence. “You may now kiss the bride.”

“Ah, finally,” Finn declared, then dipped his wife in a loving kiss. The crowd that had started to gather just as Ben made his incredible entrance started clapping enthusiastically and there were cheers of joy all around Central Park.

All the eyes were on the bride and groom.

But Rey only had eyes for one person.

Ben saw it as encouragement and gave her a tentative smile, but her face was beyond murderous. She pulled him behind the pillar and gave him a piece of her mind.

“What the _fuck_ did you think you were doing, crashing my brother’s wedding like this?!”

He was only now regaining his breath. “Rey, please listen to me.”

She waited.

“I was a dick to you and I’m not saying you should forgive me. I ruined your day, I almost made you late, I nearly got you thrown out of our flight—”

“You’re not making a good case for yourself here, mister lawyer,” she raised her eyebrow.

“I know, I know. What I said to you was unforgivable and I won’t excuse it by telling you I didn’t mean it. I _am_ a jerk, am used to being a jerk… but with you, ever since I saw you back in London— I thought I might be something different. Because, Rey, you make me want to be someone different. Someone better.”

“Go on.”

“When you rightfully left me to lick my wounds on a dirty Jersey road hours ago, I thought to myself ‘Ben Solo, if you lose this woman, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life’. Like I know my father did until the day that he died. It doesn’t matter that I met you yesterday—”

“—or a year ago, depending on the point of view—”

“Right, back when the world was making its final sprint around the Sun. It doesn’t matter how much I’ve known you for, because I think that you and I… we belong together. We _fit_ , Rey. We’ve been through a lot already, more than enough to know the character of a person, and I know I’m not worthy of you. I’m really not.”

Rey finally looked up at him.

“But I want to be.”

She bit her lip.

“I fucked this up already by not accompanying you to the wedding, which I had meant to do all along. I fucked this up by missing the chance to introduce you to my mother, who I’m sure would absolutely adore you… I fucked this up by letting you down when you’ve given me your trust, which I understand is hardly ever earned. So, Rey, I just want you to know... that I’m sorry. I’m truly, deeply sorry for all the hurt I’ve caused you in the past twenty four hours. ”

Ben raised her hand, hesitantly, and watched in awe as their fingers entangled together.

“I think I could fall in love with you,” he whispered. “But that will only happen if you stay.”

Ben finished speaking and none of them said anything for a few moments.

He looked so desperate, so impossibly young awaiting her judgement… and Rey realized she couldn’t deny herself any longer. She wanted this.

She always had, from moment one.

And Ben was making it so much easier to give in…

Rey captured his lips in a tentative kiss, surprising him, and Ben was taken aback at first, but soon caught up with her movements and realized this was okay, this was really happening to him.

It was two parts insane and one part miracle that they were reunited here of all places after all that happened with them on this crazy beginning of 2019.

And then they were laughing into the kiss, incapable of maintaining it any longer, over their heads with happiness… until someone coughed next to them.

Ben was the one to break the kiss and inspect the identity of their cumbersome intruder.

“Fancy, meeting you here is.”

The greenish, small man was wearing a tux and smiling calmly at them.

Window Man.

From the plane.

_But how…_

“Knew I’d find you at a wedding. Next one is yours, no?”

“Mr. Yoda!” Finn shouted excitedly, walking over to them in a gallant fashion. “I can’t believe you made it!”

Rey was baffled. “Do you know each other?”

“Mr. Yoda was my favorite professor at university,” Finn chuckled, shaking his hand fiercely. “He was the one who set us up, Rose and I.”

“A matchmaker, then?” Rey frowned.

“You could say that,” Finn smiled.

Ben was watching the exchange between the two men cautiously.

“And you must be the lawyer I heard so much about,” he said, measuring him up.

Ben froze.

“Guilty as charged,” he managed, the humor in his words falling flat. “Ben Solo.”

He raised his hand towards the groom. It took a few seconds of hanging it awkwardly in the air, before her brother returned the handshake. “Finn Tico,” he introduced himself.

Rey let out a sigh in relief.

“You hurt her, you go through me. Are we clear?” Finn smiled menacingly.

“Crystal,” Ben answered.

“Good. Glad we could have a chat. But now I must return to my wife who’s already trying to cut the cake without me, if it’s alright with the two of you?”

“Go, Finn, I’ll be right there in a second,” Rey sent him off.

It was just she and him. Again.

After Finn’s impromptu appearance, the atmosphere started getting weird again.

Ben spoke first. “So, the cake… What do you figure the flavor is?”

She laughed unexpectedly.

“I honestly don’t care. Rainbows. _Unicorns._ And you, what did you think of the vows?”

“I think your brother and Rose are probably going to spend a while together,” Ben said sheepishly.

“How long is a while?” she teased him.

He gave her a heart-wrenching half-smile. “Forever, I bet.”

“And what about you?” she tested.

“For as long as you’ll have me,” he said, sincere. “If that’s alright.”

“It’s quite so. Alright, I mean.”

They grinned at each other.

“So what are your plans for January 2nd?” Ben asked stupidly, like the silly person he was.

And that she was beginning to utterly adore.

Rey shut him up with a passionate kiss.

This was proving to be a very promising new year, indeed.

  


*

  


Later that night, when things had settled down, Ben took Rey out on a date (“A _proper_ one, this time. We’ve done it all backwards”).

He led them to his favorite restaurant in Little Italy, eager to show her around the city that never sleeps.

They wined and dined and laughed and recalled their impossible (or at least incredibly unlikely) day and the chain of events that had led them to this very moment (like it had happened years ago, not only a few hours prior).

“When will we be able to finish what we started this morning?” Rey said conspiratorially, in what she hoped was a seductive tone.”You know, back when the motel was on fire.”

“Well, I am—” he stuttered. “Just let me get the check and we can—”

But then something is his field of view made him pause.

“Hey, kiddo, rainchecked on us without as much as a warning?”

An older man approached the table, sitting down next to them sans invitation. An elegant woman stood behind him, reproaching the man with a deadly gaze.

Rey was somewhat confused.

Ben cleared his throat. “Rey, this is Luke. My... uncle. Luke, this is Rey Johnson. The one I told you about.”

Luke was bewildered. “ _You’re_ Rey Johnson? As in British reporter Rey Johnson?”

“Uh… yes.”

“I absolutely _adore_ your writing, Miss— can I call you Rey? I asked you on an interview for my magazine later this week! Just as a formality, of course, I would love to have you hired as our new editor-in-chief. What are the odds? This is a very small world indeed,” Luke said in amazement.

What was one more impossible coincidence in a day?

The woman standing behind Luke watched them with kind eyes, like she was savoring this moment for some unfathomable reason.

Like she could finally, _finally_ exhale.

Ben noticed the change on the woman’s mood and gave her a secretive smile.

“And Rey, this is my mother.”

“Hello, Rey. Welcome to the family.”

And then, something inside of Rey suddenly clicked. She was home.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't believe it''s only January and I've already written 25k.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading. I was very nervous about this last bit, as this story grew really big all of a sudden (135 subscriptions, just wow you guys), so I hope you enjoyed the ending of this romantic comedy Frankenstein which was a joy to write.
> 
> Please consider leaving me a kind comment with your thoughts, it would really make my day. Also, subscribe to my profile for a lot more Reylo content throughout the year (can you believe it's STILL January, tho?)
> 
> My twitter profile is down below in case you wanna scream with me about not being able to go to actual New York see Adam's play "Burn this" this spring. I am in actual tears.

**Author's Note:**

> And so it begins.
> 
> If you enjoyed this, please consider leaving a kudo or a comment, as it makes me write much faster :)
> 
> You can find me on twitter [here](https://twitter.com/funnylittleowl). See you on Dec 31st!


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